Dancing on the Tide
by Universal Laughter
Summary: AU Yaoi Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time and set off a chain of events that could destroy all they hold dear. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY YMxM SxJ On Tempoary Haitus.
1. When the Storm Hits

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) AU Yaoi Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time and set off a chain reaction that could destroy all they hold dear. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY YMxM SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: When the Storm Hits

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or the characters.

**Author Notes: **I love mermen stories so I am typing up a new one! Please support me on this one, Okay? Now here it is my second fanfiction. (Well my other story isn't finished but it will be in time!)

* * *

The sun shone through the water, making the coral reefs next to him light up with golden webs that moved with the carefree motions of the deep ocean. The sun was just beginning to rise, bathing him with the rich colors of the sunrise. The water around him was a pleasant, warm temperature as if the ocean had wrapped a blanket of colors around him. It was all as quiet as if the world stopped personally for him and the ocean's currents were like sighs being blown through his hair.

Humph, how poetic.

The only reason he was here, laying on a flat, raised expanse of rock just as the sunrise began, was to get away. From what you ask? Everything.

Bakura lay there, swishing his fin idly around, watching the shadows he made contrast with the light. His arms were crossed behind his neck, acting as a pillow of sorts for his head. This was one of this favorite places because it was alone and secluded. It was at least half a mile from the kingdom borders. He wasn't alone very often so when he happened to find some time for himself, he took advantage of it without second thoughts. He had managed to escape a few hours ago from his guards as they changed stations for the night.

Bakura snorted. Those idiots couldn't guard a sea slug, he thought and he turned on his stomach. The silence was a blessing. He felt his tension drain away and he thought that maybe he could finally sleep more than a few measly hours at a time. Sleep was one of the things that he had been deprived of lately and it was take a toll on his body. Bakura closed his eyes and vaguely wondered when someone was going to show up, after all, his father wouldn't just let him go wander around and cause havoc. It was forbidden to leave the palace grounds without a guard which was one of the amin reasons he did it in the first place.

Bakura felt the ocean currents sift, letting by a school of medium-sized forms moving at a face pace. Bakura opened his eyes to see a school of tuna race past, their scales shining in his face. It was early summer, ideal tuna hunting time and he was hungry. He had fled before breakfast was served, maybe he could…but that would alert others of this presence. He didn't want to get caught but he was hungry damnit! Oh, what the hell. He would just have to cut his time short.

Bakura narrowed his mahogany eyes and they flashed silver. One of the biggest tunas that were swimming near the front of the school froze. Its tail was still flapping as if it were swimming but it was moving in the opposite direction, backwards towards him. A thin layer of silver light covered the tuna, shinning and swirling slightly. Bakura lazily stretched out a hand and, as soon as he grabbed the fish's tail, the light, on the fish and his eyes, disappeared as if it was never there in the first place. He sighed and sat up, using two hands to keep the struggling tuna from escaping. Bakura quickly snapped the tuna's spine and it fell limp, its dead eyes looking at him. He then started the laborious task of carefully removing each individual scale. The maids could do it faster back in the kitchens but he really didn't feel like going back. It would mean to have a lecture again from his father and that took hours not to mention the lectures were boring and pointless. He hated when scales got stuck in his teeth. It took forever to get them out.

It took a while before it was ready but when he sank his fangs into the red meat it was worth it. Delicious really. He couldn't stand all those fancy over-spiced foods back home. Home… it was more like prison, he thought moodily as he picked a bone out of his teeth. Bakura cleaned the bones of any meat before tossing them off the side of the rock. Food for the scavengers or something.

He looked over at his reef. Yes, his reef. He claimed it and he was going to keep it. He didn't like to share, thank you very much. He frowned and closed his eyes. Someone should have picked up his magi signal by now, if there were really guards looking for him all over the place, not that he was complaining. No, he just found it a bit fishy (excuse the pun) that no one had actually found him yet. Well, it didn't matter, he preferred his reef to the palace any day. As long as no one found him-

"Bakura." Maybe if he ignored the annoying little voice it would go away. The current shifted again to accommodate a much larger figure than a tuna. "Bakura, you ass, I know you're not asleep." Go away; you're not here little annoying voice. He felt something sharp poke his bare chest. "Fine, if you're not going the easy way."

He suddenly felt a firm smack on his side that threw him off his rock without warning. Bakura yelped and twisted his body, quickly turning over. His powerful fin pushed and he rocketed back to his rock, seething.

"Damnit, Yami," he snarled and, once he was floating over the rock, he launched himself at the other. He and Yami rolled around on the rock wrestling around and making loud smacking noises as their fins connected with one another. Yami laughed as he pushed Bakura off him with another flick from his tail over the side of the rock. Again. Bakura righted himself before he hit the sandy floor and swam back up. He glared at Yami who smirked back at him.

Yami was one of Bakura's best friends for some weird reason he could not comprehend. Maybe it was because they knew each other since birth. Yami was a lithe, tan merman of seventeen summers. Yami had the weirdest hair in the whole ocean kingdom and he use to poke fun at him when they were younger. His hair was pitch black and spiked into several points that were outlined in scarlet. He had blonde bangs hanging over his eyes as well as a few sticking out on the side and a few also ran into his spikes. His eyes were a shocking shade of crimson that mirrored the colors of his tail.

Bakura sighed, "What do you what, Yami? Can't you see I am busy?" He swam to his original spot and laid back down, watching the ever changing ocean. Great now his side was stinging. Thank you, Yami.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "If this is you busy, I don't want to see you bored." He swam near Bakura and laid down next to him, looking bored. Usually Bakura would just push him off but he was feeling too lazy right now.

"Whatever," Bakura said, shrugging, not particularly caring. His dark silver hair floated in between them like languid seaweed.

"You know, if you didn't want anybody to find you, you shouldn't have used your magic," Yami said matter-of-factly, looking at nothing. "It sends up a flare to others looking for you." He loved riling Bakura up. It was one of the perks of being a close friend to him, he would just maim anybody else.

"I know," Bakura said annoyed. "I'm not stupid." He flipped over to his stomach and watched a small crab scuttle along his rock. He flicked it off with a sharp nail and it floated down sideways. His rock.

"Never said you were," Yami said, looking at Bakura carefully. "Are you all right? You're not usually this bitchy in the morning." Bakura sighed and turned over again. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with his palms. He really did not want to discuss his tendencies right now.

"It's your father again isn't it?" Yami asked, his eyes on Bakura's weary form. It wasn't really a question.

Bakura gritted his teeth and punched the face of the rock which resulted in a large crack running across it. Yami didn't even flinch, use to the random attacks of violence from Bakura. "Isn't it always?" Bakura spat bitterly. "Why can't he leave me alone? I don't care about politics and all that crap." He pushed off from the rock and started swimming around the reef formations as Yami swam next to him like the reluctant, dutiful friend he was.

Yami swam silently, observing his friend, waiting for Bakura to finish his temper tantrum. Bakura was punching random reefs making them shatter or crumble. He needed something to take out his anger on. Why couldn't father just leave him alone? He never asked for all this in his life. He just wanted to have fun like any other seventeen year old merman but noooo, he just had to be born a prince, didn't he? The only heir to the throne of Taikai, the Ocean kingdom and only safe haven for merpeople in the whole Pacific Ocean. He punched the side of an arcing reef and it came crumbling down, shooting out dust and little fishes, who have been hiding in the rock and disturbed by Bakura's angry aura.

Bakura in the last fit of anger, slapped the water with a magically charged fin, causing the water to take the pressure and crash into a nearby black lava reef. The black pieces exploded in a blast, showering the ground with little pieces. Yami whistled, impressed. Black lava was one of the hardest minerals found underwater. Bakura stood there, heaving deep breathes as the lack of sleep caught up to him at last. He sighed and descended to the floor, sinking in the sand.

Yami slowly approached him, making sure Bakura wasn't about to attack anything else and reached down a hand. Bakura reluctantly took it and Yami pulled back him up. "You finished?" Yami asked cheekily and Bakura glared at him. "You know, that fit of anger just released a major magi signal?" Bakura groaned. Perfect, now they definitely know where he is.

"Couldn't you have said that before?" Bakura said, eyebrow twitching dangerously. A sign of danger.

"I could have," Yami nodded, smirking. "That wouldn't be as fun." He snickered as Bakura scowled and flicked him off.

"Whoa! Who let lose the sharks?" Yami and Bakura turned to see another merman join them in the rubble of the once beautiful coral reefs. The merman was tan and muscular. He had major gravity defying dusty blonde hair that went everywhere and violet crazed eyes. His thick tail was a deep amethyst color.

"Bakura just had another temper tantrum," Yami said cheerfully as he dodged the fist thrown by Bakura.

"Ahhh, I missed it?" the merman pouted disappointed then perked back up. "Next time you go on a rampage call me and I'll be happy to help!" The merman started crackling and Yami sighed.

"Only you can truly enjoy the destruction of landforms, Marik" Bakura said dryly, conveniently forgetting to mention that he was the one that destroyed said landforms. Marik was also one of Bakura's friends and was rumored that he was dropped on his head when he was little. Marik liked shiny things.

"Yes! I am unique," Marik declared. More like crazy, thought Bakura. "Any way I was, you know, swimming around when I felt Bakura's magi signal so I followed it but I saw some shiny fish and I chased them but they got away when Bakura's big magi blast scared them. Then I saw guards, you know, swimming and I thought to myself they must be looking for Bakura and he does not like the guards so I came to warn you." He fell silent with a grin.

Bakura and Yami stared at him then each other. How come they have a nuthouse for a friend? Anyway it was better if they got back to the palace before the guards found them. Bakura nodded and took the lead the others followed right behind. The three mermen swam towards the kelp forest near the gate to Taikai. They used the kelp forest for when things like this happened. When they wanted to evade the guards at the gate or sneak in and out, depending on the occasion.

Bakura swam silently dodging the tall strands of sea kelp in the slightly cooler waters. The forest was so thick that most of the sunlight was blocked, making the perfect hiding spot. Yami and Marik kept close to Bakura not wanting to get lost in the sea of kelp that went on for miles and miles on end. Each dark green strand was about twenty feet tall and placed so close together that if you weren't careful a merperson's tail could get caught and trapped. Bakura knew the way not just because he had been through this forest for years before until now but also because he was a prince.

All merpeople know how to use their magic and can recognize each others magi signals from different distances depending on how much control and power said merperson has. But the royal family had the closest connection with the sea. The ocean reacts differently to each merperson of royal blood just like each has a different personality. To Bakura the sea lets his vision and any senses be carried across its currents and waves. He can see from a mile away and feel the shifting of currents even farther when he links up his magic to the ocean. He can use his magic like any other merman when it's on its own but has been know to be more powerful with the ocean.

Bakura slowed down near the end of the kelp forest and stuck his head out, making sure the shadows kept him hidden. He smirked, perfect; there were no guards at the gate. They probably all ran off to see what destroyed the coral reefs. That was a pity though; he had to find another alone place. The large white metal gates were left carelessly open and Bakura gave the OK signal to his friends waiting behind him.

All three shot from the kelp, past the gates silently, and into the city, leaving bubbles in their wake. The whole city was in the middle of the large rock formations that were know as the Leviathan's Hollow because it looked like an underwater valley. All the houses were made of rock, coral, seaweed, marble or any type of stone or plant found in the sea. As the three mermen swan across the city they dodged merpeople at every turn. Most merpeople swam out of the way in seeing the prince, stopped what they were doing and respectfully bowed down. Bakura hated when they did that, it made him feel pointed out and in the spotlight.

A passing by mother gasped softly and made her kid bow with her when the kid protested. He heard the mother scold her kid softly when they passed. Sometimes his status got him things that otherwise he would have never got but when merpeople did that he got the feeling he wasn't one of them. He wasn't, he knew that and he didn't what to be like them but he didn't want to be the way he was now. He wanted to be his own self not a prince.

In the middle of the city was a huge marble palace with two towers on either side. The palace had no windows with, what was that odd human invention called? Ah, yes, glass. Merpeople could just swim in and out of the windows to enter or exit, usually carrying scrolls or baskets filled with deliveries. Bakura decided to skirt around and enter from the back openings so they would have a better chance of not being seen. They were nearing the back of the palace when a bunch of mermaids swam near them, giggling crazily as if giggling was the most fun thing to do. Bakura nearly gagged at the sugary expressions on their faces but forced out a painful smile; his father would hear of it if he scared them away. The mermaids shrieked in delight and fell all over each other. God, what is it with all the mermaids in this kingdom? With the exception of a few.

"Screechy hags blew my ears off," Marik mumbled while Yami grimaced, not say anything but inwardly agreeing with him. They didn't care much for the mermaids either. They swam as fast as they could towards one of the windows near the eastern half of the palace, hiding in the shadows when guards came near. They were pretty good at this, after all, practice made prefect.

They finally came to a big balcony and swam into the room, parting the silk curtains aside. Inside was Bakura's room. The room had a big coral bed with dark gray walls. A mirror and a plain wardrobe also added to the decor. He had a large bookcase that he never used but added it to his room to at least make his father think he was studying. Bakura had firmly refused to sleep in one of those over decorated rooms that did nothing but look pretty when he passed ten years of age. The beds were very uncomfortable as well.

Bakura collapsed on his bed, feeling the silk on his skin. Yami and Marik wandered around as if they were home, completely at ease. All sighed in relief to have gotten inside without being spotted. Last time they got caught things didn't go over so well with the king and the guard Captain that found them, some weirdo named Keith. But at least he would have some time to relax before the guards reported to his father about the damage to the reef and Bakura's magi signal outside the borders. He would fit the pieces faster that an orca after a dolphin.

Marik was looking the mirror as he always does, tapping on the glass. Ohh, so shiny! Marik looked in the glass, ignoring his mirror image and observing the reflections of the others and their surroundings. It never hurt to be cautious.

Yami went over to the giant bookcase and looking for the red spine of the book he was reading. With a victorious look, he spotted it and pulled it out. Bakura glanced around uninterested. Yami was reading one of the books on the shelf, probably the one he has been reading for the last week. It was really big and heavy. About human mythology and transmutation or something.

Humans in the underwater kingdom were considered to be dangerous and unapproachable. The only reason Bakura had the smallest inkling of curiosity about these so-called "magic-blind" is that anything forbidden is bound to piss his father off, something he lived for. He could care less about the two-legs. The mere thought of his father going into a rage sent warm tingles down his spine. So he kept one or two or a dozen books about the arcane just in case the might King decided to drop by (never mind the fact he wouldn't be caught dead reading anything worthwhile.)

He had even gone up there once. He had broken through the surface and felt that odd feeling like a current but with none of the water. He felt the heat of the sun, drying his scales and skin rapidly and saw the surface of the water. It was the most amazing thing he had ever felt and he kept trying to go back. But the ocean pushed him back with invisible hands. That was his father's unique connection with the ocean. The ocean would follow the pattern and shape the king set up like the water was a sculpture that the king was making with his hands. It was as if the surface was hard as stone and he couldn't go break it, no matter how hard he tried. The only time it was let down was when the king lost connection with the ocean for a long time, which almost never happened, or if the ocean needed all its strength for something. The ocean protected those under its waves so when the other elements attacked the ocean fought back.

Bakura was spacing out when the door to his room slammed open with a bang. Bakura sat up to see a tall, fuming and pissed off merman. Seto was the last of his best friends. Seto was taller than all the other mermen in the room from head to fin. He was tan (most of the merpeople are tan) and had thick chestnut hair that feel into his eyes attractively. His tail was a deep azure color. His infamous furious blue eyes glared at Bakura who daintily waved at him.

"Where have you been?" he said angrily, gliding up to Bakura while Yami and Marik moved out of the way. It wasn't wise to be in the way of Seto when he was angry. Merpeople could get hurt. Yami drifted back, ready to enjoy the show,

"Around," Bakura said broadly and he stood up straight looking like he couldn't care less.

"Around!" Seto cried outraged beyond belief, as he pointed a finger that could poke an eye out at Bakura's face. "The palace was in an uproar tying to find you. Again. Do you know how much work I had to do to cover for you?"

"No," Bakura said regally, putting a hand on Seto's shoulder. "But you know I appreciate it." He swam around Seto to the balcony, knowing that Seto was about to blow his top off.

Seto gritted his teeth and ran his hand through his hair, trying not to give in to the urge to strangle the prince. "It was bad enough when you disappeared but when the king got wind of your magi signal outside of the gate near the corals, he went ballistic. He sent twenty guards to get you." Bakura snorted, he could have easily defeated those idiots with his magic. "He's enraged, you idiot. Do you know what he could do to you?" It was just like Bakura to be so damn stubborn.

Bakura folded his arms defiantly and growled, "I don't care what that bastard thinks or does."

Seto glared at him, "Well, you should." Why does he have to be so damn stubborn? He knows perfectly well what could happen.

Yami swam in between them with a palm to each merman, tying to stop Seto from doing anything possibly lethal to the other. It would be bad if he had to explain the mess. "Give him a break, Seto. You know he's stressed out over _it_," he said softly but Bakura still heard and he bristled. He fisted his hands.

Seto sighed but gave way, knowing the problem was a big thing for Bakura not to mention them as well. "Just came to warn you. The king is not happy and it's almost time. If you want to do something about it, you better do it fast." He directed the last part of his words to Bakura who was glaring at the wall, almost drilling holes.

"I'm trying!" Bakura hissed. "What do you think I've been doing all this time? Painting pictures? A little help would be nice."

"You know we have been doing all we can," Yami said, frustrated that his own attempts to help failed. "But the king knows that you don't want it and he has us all under watch in the palace and we don't have any power to change things if all the Council agrees on the matter."

Bakura threw a punch at the wall in frustration and dragged his nails down the side, leaving gorges. Nothing ever goes right! Damnit all!

"What are you doing Marik?" Yami said, looking for a distraction from the topic and finding it in Marik. Bakura took a break from carving disturbing pictures in the wall and looked over to his crazy friend.

Marik had his pointed ear to the door and had a weird look on this face. "Hearing voices."

Yami frowned, "Voices?" He drifted to the door as Marik sprang back and it opened again after a short knock. Two mermen with metal armor on their chests and the royal family crest came in. Guards. Bakura narrowed his eyes. So, dear old daddy wants to see me again. Let me find a container for my joy.

"Royal Prince Bakura of Taikai," one of the guards said, holding his spear straight as a rod. Marik stuck out his tongue at him and the guard twitched. Ugh, he hated his full title. "King Tsuyoi requests your presence in the throne room." His dad never requests, he orders.

Bakura didn't really have a choice. He couldn't defy his father without having it spread across the palace then, eventually, the city. If that happened his father would punish him again.

"Fine," he sighed and grumbled as he moved forwards, each guard on either side of him. Seto, Marik, and Yami immediately followed behind the procession without question.

He and his friends were escorted down the marble corridors, past servants doing their chores, to a big open arena with a tall ceiling supported by several white stone pillars on the sides. He hates this place with a passion. Bakura swam forward to the middle while his friends stayed near the wall, knowing their place. In the middle of the throne room as a big marble throne. It was a beauty, really, the smooth white stone was crafted to look like the throne had just naturally grown out of the floor with Meridian inscriptions on the armrests and sides. Too bad the throne was sat on by his father.

The guards stopped by the open doors as a flurry of servants were dismissed. Bakura stiffened but swam past them into the room. He was mentally preparing himself for the lecture that was undeniably coming.

The first guards raised his spear as Yami tried to pass, stopping him. Yami narrowed his eyes and fixed them upon the guard, demanding to know why he was being stopped. Seto and Marik also glared.

"Only Prince Bakura was to attend inside," the guard said, looking straight ahead. "All others are to remain behind the doors."

"Shut up, idiot," Bakura barked, looking back at the impudent guard. "I say they can go and they will go."

"Pardon my defiance but King Tsuyoi-"

"I will handle my dear father," Bakura said, snarling. He whipped his head back, knowing that his friends wrestled their way inside. Yami and Seto both have higher status in the Court that normal guards, they should have been let inside without any resistance even if his father said so. As he said, he will deal with him if he complained.

King Tsuyoi was a heavy set man with floor-length silver hair and black eyes that narrowed on his only son, the powerful dark gray tail was moving slowly from side to side. His face was weathered and beaten but Bakura could still see traces of the handsome merman he was when he was younger. The expression on his face made it known that he was in trouble. Bakura glared at his father, not the least intimidated as the heavy stone doors were shut.

"Glad you could join me, Bakura," Tsuyoi said darkly, eyes flickering to his son's friends. They bowed to him and straightened, not moving, showing their loyalty to Bakura by staying.

Bakura didn't say anything, a scowl on his face

"Where were you this morning?" his father asked angrily, the husky voice carrying across the room.

"None of your business," Bakura snapped back, his voice almost the same as his father's. He has no right to know.

"Of course it's my business!" Tsuyoi said, his eyes on his son and not with a nice expression. Bakura stared back, shaking with barely restrained anger. So he thought he could butt in his life. "You're the only heir to the throne. I will not let the kingdom go into chaos because of your desire to remain a child."

"That's all I am to you!" Bakura shouted in his father's face. He had enough. He was going to say what he had been going through all his life and his father was going to hear it whether he liked it or not! "I'm the only heir to the throne not your only son! I never asked to be prince; I just want to live my life not one that you and the stupid Council planned out."

"Well, too bad," his father barked, his eyes starting to get silvery around the edges as his voice rose to dangerous levels. "You were born a prince and that's what you are! You will start acting according to your position."

"No!" Bakura yelled as the water around him started turning silver. His magic was acting up, responding to his emotions but he didn't care. This wasn't fair! He hated it here with his position as the prince, the next unwilling king. "I will not! If acting as you say means living married to that whore I refuse!"

In the beginning of spring Tsuyoi had announced to the kingdom the engagement of Bakura and a high ranking mermaid named Anzu without his consent. Anzu was well known to be a beautiful mermaid with a good blood in her veins as her parents were Council members. The first time Bakura saw her he nearly threw up all over the floor. She was so sickly sweet and kept trying to crawl into his lap and kiss him, rubbing her hand down his chest when she could. Anzu was beautiful but she was a spoiled and awful mermaid, yelling at the servants when they brought her the wrong type of fish at the banquet. She was only marring him to be queen, to raise her status, and he could see that. He hated that, for someone like her to take advantage of him. He had been worrying and stressing out over that for weeks. He wouldn't lower himself as far as to take that slut as his spouse; he would rather live in the Chasm of Salain. At the end of summer the marriage was to take place and he had been endlessly thinking of ways to get out of it. In a simple sentence: Bakura hated Anzu.

"You have no choice in the matter! It's for the good of the kingdom," Tsuyoi roared as he pushed up from his throne to float in front of the prince. Bakura's magic was spreading dangerously as was Tsuyoi's but in greater quantity. Bakura felt so frustrated and angry. Why wouldn't his father listen to him?

Yami, Marik, and Seto looked on worriedly from their position on the wall. With all the magic in the room it was possible for a magical backlash. If the two magics collided, it was going to be disastrous. Bakura knows better than that, Yami thought reassuringly but the scene in front of him was not encouraging.

"All you care about is the kingdom," Bakura yelled as his eyes flashed silver. "What about me! The life of a prince isn't for me!" The two magics were closer together, now on the verge on touching. Bakura's magic coiled and formed figures with sharp edges around him, reacting in being so close to the other familiar magic.

"You're the most selfish brat I have ever known!" his father retorted. "The kingdom is more important than your desires. You will marry Anzu and provide the kingdom a future heir!"

Bakura saw red in an instant. His father didn't care about him; he only cares about the kingdom. He doesn't like his own son just because he was too blind to see him for what he was not his status. He hates his life! Why wouldn't his father understand that simple fact! "Mother would have never force me to do this!" he yelled desperately, playing his last card.

His father's face hardened with fury. "You will not bring her into this conversation!" he ordered.

"Yes, I will!" Bakura said, his hands fisted at his sides. His tail was as rigid as a board with his fin twitching, a sure sign he was angry. "Mother cared for me unlike you! She would never let you do this!" His heart felt like it was breaking at the memory of his mother.

Queen Umi was one of the most beloved mermaids in the history of the ocean. She was the called the most beautiful mermaid in the sea when she was alive. Her kind heart and gentle nature won the loyalty of the merpeople even in her early years of queenship. Bakura remembered that she had long, silky blonde hair with the brown eyes she gave to him. Even the sea mourned her death from the bite of a poisonous water snake and whirlpools sprouted in its grief. She died twelve years ago when Bakura had just turned five years old, never getting to say happy birthday to him. Bakura's best memory was that of his mother singing gently while combing his hair with a coral comb, getting him ready for a formal ball which he really did not want to go to. Sometimes if he listened hard enough in the silence of the palace at night he could almost hear her song again like the ghost of her presence was still housed in the lonely marble walls.

"Children dear, was it yesterday  
We heard the sweet bells over the bay  
In the caverns where we lay,  
Through the surf and the swell,  
The far-off sound of silver bell?  
Sand-strewn caverns, cool and deep,  
where the winds are all asleep;  
Where the spent lights quiver and gleam;  
Where the salt weed sways in the stream;  
Where the sea-beasts raged all around  
Feed in the daze of their pasture-ground;  
where the sea-snakes coil and twine,  
Dry their mail and bask in the brine;  
where great whales come sailing by,  
Sail and sail, with unshut eye,  
Round the world foe ever and aye;  
When did music come this way?  
Children dear, was it yesterday?"

"It doesn't matter what your mother would have said!" his father said strangled. "She has passed on. What matters is that you must do as you're told!"

Bakura couldn't believe it. His father brushed off his mother like yesterday's discarded kelp. Now he definitely was not going to bow down to this idiot! His mother deserved better, he deserved better, the whole damn kingdom deserved better! Bakura sent all his magic charging to his father not caring about the consequences. His magic wailed like an angry beast and reached out with sharp finger-like waves.

Tsuyoi saw the attack coming and sent his own wave of magic which was in much larger in power. The result was a huge explosion that threw Bakura all the way to the other side of the room and against the wall. He gasped sharply as he felt red-hot pain shoot across his back and he slid down the wall to the floor unable to do anything with his eyes seeing white spots. The dust in the water made it impossible to see what happened. I hope I got him good, Bakura thought as he gingerly inspected his back with a glance over his shoulder. He had a large gash going from his right shoulder to his left hip. It was bleeding mightily and he gasped with another wave of pain.

Bakura heard the shouts from his friends on the other side of the throne room but he ignored them as he dust settled. His father was standing in the middle looking furious and his magic curled around him like a shield. Tsuyoi had sent a counterattack and made a shield at the same time. Not even one scratch was on him. He was too weak in contrast to his father.

"You insolent brat!" his father roared at the injured prince. "How dare you go against me? You will bow to my authority." If he had been a real parent he would be worried about his child, Bakura thought acrimoniously as his father shouted at him.

Bakura gritted his teeth as he swam back up, steadying himself with a hand on the wall. Never! He was never going to follow his father! With all the strength he had left he punched a pillar on his right. His fist cracked as he roared in pain but it did what he wanted it to do. A giant crack ran up the pillar and as it reached the top, dust and grit rained down; the punch had split it in half. There was no way it would hold. It came down and without warning as chunks fell off and came crashing into the ground. He turned around and swam out of the arena, biting his lip to keep from screaming with the agony.

"Run Bakura! Don't worry we'll find you!" Bakura heard Yami's yell and he redoubled his efforts to get out of there. The throne room roof collapsed and a great cloud of rubble fell from the palace into the main square of the city with a great boom that could be heard from miles. He heard the shouts of the citizens in panic and surprise as they swam out of the way. It was panic as a section of the palace fell down, squishing everything in it descent. Bakura could only hope that his friend got out safely.

He dashed past the last houses and thru the gates before the guards could react. He heard the shouts from the guards. His back was still bleeding as was his fist. It was dangerous to go to open water bleeding because sharks could easily detect blood in the water but he had no other choice. He had to get away fast. He swam and swam until he could no longer see Leviathan's Hollow behind him.

Even though he was bleeding, injured, and all alone he couldn't help but to feel free at long last. He was going to on new adventure and maybe he could finally be free of this father's rule. He swam into the ocean, as blue as he eye could see. A sudden weight that had been on his shoulders ever since he could remember lessened the more he swam away. It was a glorious feeling and it wrapped him up.

Too bad he never saw the storm boiling above and the tranquil water start to turn dangerously and darkly, the currents getting harsher and faster. He never noticed the rapid decrease in temperature and the sunlight lessening above the surface. And the massive spiked reef next to him.

* * *

Whoooooo! Finished! And in one day too. I'm on a roll now. Please review for me. I write quickly with more reviews. The song in my story is not mine. It's called "Rocked in the cradle of the deep_**"**_ by Emma Milard. Not mine I repeat once again. Thank you for taking time to read this fan fiction.


	2. An Arrival in Time

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time and set off a chain of events that could destroy all they hold dear. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY YMxM SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: An Arrival in Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or the characters.

**Author Notes:** Whoop! Second chapter ahoy mates. Thank you all for reviewing and giving opinions. I am not sure how often I will be able to update because I am once again going back to school. Just for one, I don't want a Beta thank you anyway for suggesting but I prefer to improve on my own. So here it is

* * *

Ryou sighed in boredom once again. The third time in an hour.

Here he was in the last day of school before the beginning of the summer holidays, sitting in his little desk, taking notes. Even on the last day the teachers were still as boring as ever, still going over their subjects like they were going to see their students tomorrow. Ryou looked down at his perfectly written notes of the Revolutionary War in the United States that Mrs. Shishou was lecturing on and on about because she wanted them to get a head start in the history for next year. They had just finished that chapter but Mrs. Shishou decided to do an overview of the whole thing so that it would be fresh in their minds for next year.

The sunlight was pouring from the window next to him, making him even sleepier than he was. Ryou closed his eyes briefly before glancing over next to him. On the neighboring desk to his right was a messy haired blonde was asleep on the desktop. His face was pressed against the open history book and was twitching in his sleep, drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. Probably dreaming of food, Ryou thought amused.

He glanced back at the teacher. She had turned around and was writing on the whiteboard, writing in loopy cursive that had taken the students all year to decipher. Perfect. He discreetly reached out and poked the blonde in the side, in between the ribs with his pen. The teen mumbled something about flying purple gorillas and promptly turned his head the other way, still asleep. Ryou shot another look at the teacher. Still safe.

"Jou, Jou wake up," Ryou mumbled as he prodded Jou with his pen. He raised a lazy hand and waved it, trying to hit the prodding object away, missing by several miles. Ryou bit his lip and thought of his options. He could let Jou sleep until the end of class but then Mrs. Shishou would catch him and throw him in detention even if it was the last day of the year. He could also try waking him up but it's almost impossible to wake Jou, he knew from experience.

Ryou decided. He couldn't let Jou sleep because he would get detention then he would get in trouble with his father. Only Jou closest friends knew about Jou's father's beatings and his abuse. Ryou, when he had found out, had wanted to go to the police but Jou refused to do it. Jou's father was the only family he had left, his mother and sister had moved away years ago. It saddened Ryou but he respected his friend's wishes. He had often arrived late to class because of this. Ryou and his friends tried as much as they could to help him, short of taking him to the hospital when things turned serious.

Ryou steeled himself then stabbed Jou in the ribs with his pen as hard as he could. Jou shot straight up with a yell that drew the attention of the whole classroom, wide eyes all around. Jou glared, rubbing his abused ribs and Ryou, who smiled bashfully, looking ahead like he had been doing that the whole time. His own innocence amazed him sometimes.

"Do you have something to say to the class Mr. Jounouchi?" Mrs. Shishou asked irritably as she approached Jou, menacingly drawing herself to tower above him even though Jou was four inches taller.

"Nah, sorry Mrs. S ya know dese chairs are pretty hard," Jou said sheepishly as he sat back down among the disguised snickers and snorts form the classmates. "My bad."

Mrs. Shishou looked at Jou over her glasses and said, "This is your last warning Mr. Jounouchi. Next time it's detention." She pursed her lips, a bit amused that the blonde could still disrupt the class despite his past experiences.

"Yes'm, ma'am," Jou said with a grin and the teacher vaguely smiled, slightly enamored by his natural charm and she drew back to the front of the classroom, her heels clicking on the floor.

"Now as I was saying, the American Revolutionary War that lasted from 1775 to 1783 was also known as the American War of Independence, was a war between Great Britain and revolutionaries within …" her voice droned on and on, eyes sharp for any inattentive students.

Jou looked over at Ryou and whispered over the lecture, "Wat ya do dat for Ryou? Ya nearly got meh in trouble." He gave Ryou an irritated glace and rubbed his ribs again to emphasize his words.

Ryou calmly said as he continued taking his notes, "You would have gotten into even more trouble if Mrs. Shishou found you sleeping through her class for the third time this week even if it is the last day. She would make you go to weekend detention." Weekend detention was the worst in his opinion.

Jou sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Ya right as always. Thanks but couldn't ya hav done it less painful'-like?" he said reproachfully in his Brooklyn accented voice. He didn't like waking up painfully too many times. He got enough of those at home.

"I couldn't figure out another way," Ryou looked at Jou with his big eyes. "I'm sorry." Gah! The eyes! Not the eyes!

"It's alright little buddy," he grinned at Ryou and Ryou smiled back. Ryou drew his attention back at the lecture. This continued for the last ten minutes of the class with Ryou constantly stopping Jou from falling asleep again.

Actually there was another reason that Ryou stopped Jou from getting detention. For the next month and a half he and his friends had been invited to his uncle's summer beach house while his uncle flew off for a business trip. They had all accepted excitedly and they were leaving tomorrow. Jou was driving since he was they only one who still had his driver's license. Ryou had been to the beach house when he was seven and he had a blast there, still remembered the good times. Now it was going to be even more fun since his best friends were coming with him.

Ryou eyes sparkled with excitement. He could hardly wait! They would go to the beach and swim in the pool and do all kinds of fun stuff. Oh, and he always want to have a walk on the beach as well. At sunrise would be nice.

It had taken a lot of trouble and persuasion for Jou to convince his father to let him go on the trip. His father had been certain that Jou was using this excuse to run away and refused to let him go for weeks. Jou thought that was stupid but didn't say it out loud. Where would he go if he ran away? He could have hidden at his friends' houses but his father would have found him there eventually. Jou had pleaded and made a big mess of things even if they caused more bruises than usual but his father had finally shouted at him, "Get away, you good for nothing excuse for a human!" Jou had taken this for a permission to go. He figured that a month and a half free of his father was a reward enough for all the trouble he went through.

Ryou finished up his notes just as the bell to end the school day rang. Ah, the sweet sound of freedom.

The whole class roared and shouted, celebrating the long awaited end of the school year, chairs falling on the ground, forgotten as everyone danced in their places. Jou jumped up and down with a huge grin that threatened to split his face and pulled Ryou from his seat by his hands. Ryou was forced to jump up and down with Jou. Ryou couldn't help but to grin as well. The teacher watched her class's antics with a smile, happy with their cheer and merriment. The classroom emptied fast as Jou finally let go of Ryou to pull his things out of the desk and pack his stuff messily into his backpack. Ryou also packed but much more neatly, not a wrinkled piece of paper in sight.

Jou tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Ryou. "Com'on Ry! I want ta get out of here. I wanna feel da air on ma skin!"

"I'm coming Jou," Ryou said as he swung his worn backpack onto shoulder. They walked to door and Ryou stopped and bowed to the teacher, remembering his manners to his elders.

"Have a happy summer, Ryou, Jou," she said as she waved at them. "I'll see you in the fall." Mrs. Shishou had always been one of his favorite teachers and she had nurse a soft spot for him as well. He always turned in his homework on time and did excellent on tests.

"Thank you Mrs. Shishou," Ryou said politely while Jou said, "See ya, Mrs. S!" over his shoulder, already speeding down the halls, his loud voice warning people to move out of the way before they were bowled over. Ryou chuckled at his impatient friend and raced down the corridor after him, dodging people easily because he was smaller than an average sixteen year old teen. Actually many people had told Ryou that he looked like a girl but he just politely told them otherwise.

He ran past the lockers into the main hall to the entrance of Fabushi High; he had already packed his books earlier that day. He shaded his eyes as he stepped into the sunlight. He stood off to the side and tried to locate Jou or one of his other friends as streams of people flooded out of the wide double doors. He didn't have many friends but the ones he had were true and honest. He looked at the crowds of teenagers in front of the school in their little groups probably waiting for somebody to pick them up. He looked around and spotted Jou near a cherry tree and walked over.

Jou was leaning against the tree while talking excitedly with Malik. Malik was laughing loudly and turned to another smaller teen sitting on the ground. The teen on the ground turned from the conversation as Ryou came closer. The teen jumped up with a huge smile and yelled, "Ryou!"

Ryou smiled and waved as the small teen and Malik both charged and double hugged him at once making a Ryou sandwich. Ryou gasped out, "Can't breathe!"

Both backed up, Malik with a grin and the other with a worried look. "Are you okay Ryou? Did we hurt you?" he asked anxiously.

Ryou shook his head. "I'm fine Yuugi just lay off the double hugs," he said smiling gently. Yuugi sighed relived. Yuugi was at about a few inches smaller than Ryou's own 5'4 at 5'0 and was studying to be doctor and museum director. An odd choice of career if you ask Ryou. Yuugi had large innocent looking purple eyes that looked just like he would never do anything bad. His hair was black, spiked strangely, and faded into red at the edges with a couple of blonde bangs sticking out above his eyes. He assured them that this was totally natural.

"Aww! The hugs are the best though," Malik sighed dramatically looking as if the world ended. "Maybe Jou will appreciate me!" Ryou and Yuugi laughed as Jou shouted, "You lunatic get away from me!" and Jou raced across the pasture being chased by Malik. This lasted for about five minutes before both of them collapsed back at the tree.

"So, I'm pick'in ya up at ten?" Jou confirmed at Ryou. He nodded his eyes shinning again.

Yuugi clapped his hands, his eyes shinning like Ryou's. "We will have so much fun. I love the beach." He looked like an overeager kid at his birthday.

Malik nodded. "I love the sand, it reminds me of Egypt." Malik was born in Cairo, Egypt and moved here five years ago. He had tan skin and light blonde hair that shinned with the sunlight. His pale violet eyes were wide with anticipation for the trip. He was the second tallest of the group after Jou.

Ryou looked at his watch. He had to get home soon to start packing. He said his goodbyes and started walking home, going to a modest part of the neighborhood. He lived in a little house three blocks away from the school which was why he walked. Jou had offered to pick him up several times but Ryou refused. To him it was just a waste of gasoline and of Jou's time; he lived over at the other side of town His house was a two storey house with blue and red paint on the outside, the edges peeling off slightly. He took the key out of his backpack when he arrived at the door and opened it.

The house was totally silent meaning his mother had not yet arrived from work which he hadn't expected anyway. He walked to the kitchen and found a note stuck on the refrigerator under a magnetic penguin. He had hoped that he would not see this.

_Ryou,_

_Honey, I'm going to be a little late tonight. Could you be a dear and heat up the leftover lasagna from last night? Thanks and remember to pack everything you need for your trip._

_Love,_

_Mom _

Ryou sighed. As usual his mother would get some extra time at work. At least she wasn't at a business trip then she wouldn't come home for weeks. His mother would probably get home at around 11 pm as she always did. A little late to her was an extra three hours at her job.

He opened the refrigerator door. He looked until, at the very bottom, he found the plastic container with the leftovers. He took it out, popped off the lid, and stuck it in the microwave and set the timer for five minutes. He grabbed his backpack and marched up stairs into the first room on the left.

His room was neat and orderly with leftover space. He dumped his back pack in the closet and reached under his bed. He dragged the suitcase out and opened it on his bed, the springs jumping with the movement. Ryou then went into his closet and took out clothes that he would take to the beach house. He mostly took shorts and t-shirts but packed in two pairs of pants and a sweater just in case. Ryou was one of those people who were always ready for an emergency. He took his sunscreen and his hair ties. His swim trunks were thrown in with his sandals and anything else he could think of for the beach. He carefully packed some of his precious books from his shelf into a smaller bag. Couldn't forget those.

Once he double checked that he had everything he would need, he walked down the stairs. The lasagna had grown cold again since he spent more time than he anticipated. Ryou huffed in annoyance and once again put it in the microwave. In the five extra minutes he had to wait, Ryou made himself a nice hot cup of green tea in his favorite tea mug. When the lasagna was ready he put his mug on the table and took out the hot container, careful not to get burnt. He put it on the table and took out a plate from a cabinet. He sat down and cut a portion of the lasagna on his plate. It had that weird plastic taste food gets when put in the microwave but still eatable.

When he was finished he put his plate and his mug in the sink and began washing them, as was his custom. His nimble fingers scrubbed the plate as he mentally went over the trip plans. They would start driving at 11:00 and get at the beach house around 1:00, 1:30 in the afternoon. In the city they had movie theaters, an amusement park, an aquatic museum, and many other attractions so they would never be bored even if they got tired of the beach.

Ryou had this giddy feeling as he put his clean plate on the rack. He walked out the kitchen and decided to watch some telly. No, TV, it's TV. He originally came from Great Britain and some of his old habits came unexpectedly from time to time but he was adapting. He sat down on the couch and presses the on button on the control remote. The TV flickered to life as he started channel surfing, looking for anything to distract him.

He passed a Spanish soap opera -a woman sobbing hysterically in the background- then came on the weather report. He got an idea and Ryou left it there waiting for the report of Seal Bay, the place where they would be visiting tomorrow. It came five minutes later after some report on lost cats.

"It is reported that a storm is due to pass across Seal Bay near one in the morning tomorrow. The shore coast guard urges all in the area to be safely in their houses by that time to insure that one is harmed," the weather man said while pointing at the map as storm clouds gathered near the shore. He tapped it once and dragged the point around, showing how the thunder clouds were suppose to be moving.

Ryou bit his lip worriedly. Maybe this trip wasn't such a good idea after all but he really wanted to go. He should call Yuugi to see what he says about it. He turned off the TV and grabbed the phone on the table next to the couch. He dialed Yuugi's home number on the headset and waiting as it rang.

"Yes, hello?" came to voice of Yuugi's grandfather on the other side.

"Hello, Mr. Mutou its Ryou," he said, thinking fondly of the old man. He was always letting him try out new games at his game store. Yuugi would always beat him in the end thought it was all done in good fun.

"Ah, Ryou do you want to talk to Yuugi?"

"Yes please," he waited as Mr. Mutou called Yuugi who was upstairs.

"Hey, Ryou!" Yuugi's cheerful voice said. "What's up? I was just finishing packing for the trip. This is going to be a blast!"

"Well, Yuugi," he said softly, hating himself for raining on Yuugi's parade. "I was looking at the weather report for Seal Bay and they say there will be storm tomorrow at one tomorrow night and I'm not sure we should go. Someone could get hurt."

"Oh, a storm," Yuugi's disappointed voice came then it perked up. "I should call Jou and Malik to see what they say."

"OK" Ryou said. "Call me back." The line went dead as Ryou collapsed on the couch. He felt disappointed, he really wanted to go. But if some one got hurt he would never forgive himself. His friends are really important to him but they were all looking forward to going. Stupid storm, he fumed but he knew it wasn't the storm's fault. It couldn't decide where to strike or did it…?

Ryou was startled as the phone ringed and he picked it up.

"Hey Ryou wat's dis I'm hearing 'bout ya want'in ta cancel da trip?" Jou voice came, unbelieving.

"There's suppose to be a storm, Jou," Ryou explained twirling a strand of his hair nervously as if he was hoping Jou had a good reason for them to still go.

"A storm? At wat time is it suppose ta be at?"

"One tomorrow night."

"Com'on Ry! We'll all be nice 'n snug in da house by dat time. Not ta worry," Jou soothing voice melting Ryou's worry away a little. He always had that comforting vibe around him.

"You sure?" he asked his hopes rising again.

"Positive. I'll even tie Malik to da bed to make sure." Jou chuckled over the line at the mental picture.

Ryou laughed, relived. "Ok then, the trip's still on!" Jou whooped on the other side of the line and they said goodbye.

Ryou looked back at the blank television and smiled.

* * *

Ryou woke up to the smell of pancakes. He groaned and rolled over to glance at the clock. 10:10 on the dot. He reluctantly got out from his cozy and warm bed, his feet protesting the cold ground. He took out a pair of kaki shorts and a blue t-shirt and put them on. He then dragged his suitcase down the stairs quickly, excited that today they were going to the beach house. His other bag was hung around his shoulder.

He dragged his suitcase and his other bag to the front door and left it there. Ryou sneaked a peak into the kitchen and saw his mom cooking chocolate chip pancakes, his favorite! Ryou smiled. His mother was usually working by now in her office but it looks like she took some time off to cook his favorite breakfast. His heart swelled with gratitude at his mother. She was almost never here to say or do anything.

He sat down on the table and his mother glanced up from the stove. "Ryou, honey! How are you?" Her warm blue eyes shinning with love and motherly warmness. Her limp white-blonde hair was tied perfectly into a professional bun. She had on her usual black suite and looked like she was a CEO of some big corporation.

"Great thanks, mom," Ryou smiled, loving the fact he was seeing his mother at the cooker, a sight he hadn't seen in a long time. "But I would be even better if I had some of those pancakes."

His mother laughed daintily and flipped some pancakes onto a plate and set it in front of Ryou. Ryou eat them mentally becoming a pile of goo at the deliciousness of the chocolate.

"So, you're all set?" his mother asked, getting her own plate of pancakes. She sat down, delicately crossing her legs.

"Yeah," he said after making sure he had no food in his mouth. "Are you sure you'll be Ok without me?" He was the one, after all, who did most of the chores around and made sure that the house ran in perfect order.

His mother waved a hand, dismissing the issue. "Of course, Ryou. You just go and have fun." They smiled at each other as they ate their breakfast, both with refined manners that they were raised in, his mother by her mother and he by his mother when he was little and she didn't have so much work.

He had just finished eating his pancakes when there was a honk from outside, altering him. "That's Jou," he exclaimed excitedly as he ran out of the kitchen for the front door. He grabbed his suitcase and opened the door.

Jou's red convertible was in front of the house and Jou himself was looking out the open window and waving to him. Ryou dragged the suitcase towards the back of the car; it had no wheels so it was pretty straining. His suitcase was heavy. Maybe he shouldn't have put so many of his books inside. Ryou tapped the boot of the car and Jou popped it open for the inside. Once it was safely inside he climbed into the back seat of Jou's car, placing his hand bag next to him.

"Alright here we go!" Jou declared as Ryou waved goodbye to his mother, who was on the porch waving back at him. She looked sad, realizing how little she saw her petite baby boy these days. She hoped that he enjoyed himself; it was the least she could do to make up for her ignorance.

"Second stop is Yuugi's place." Jou drove down the street as Ryou leaded back. The old convertible that was Jou's pride and joy roared down the street. Trees and houses sped past his window and he wished that he had a car but he didn't have much driving experience.

A few minutes later they arrived at Yuugi's house next to the game shop that his grandfather owned. The Turtle Shop was a container of good memories. Jou beeped again and Yuugi burst out of the door less than five seconds later like he had been waiting outside the door. Ryou wondered whether Yuugi had been sitting next to the door the whole night.

Yuugi was dragging his suitcase which looked as big as he was and probably just as heavy because each time he pulled the suitcase, it scooted less than an inch. Jou rolled his eyes and got out to help. Ryou watched from the window as Jou put Yuugi's suitcase in the trunk easily and Yuugi hugged his grandfather goodbye the skipped merrily to the other backseat of the car.

"Hi, Ryou!" he chirped and Ryou said "hi" back. "Oh my god, this is going to be so cool! I love the beach and the water and the sun and its going to be so much fun with you guys!"

"Calm down Yuug'," Jou chuckled as he climbed back to the driver's seat. "Save some o' that energy fo' tomarra." Yuugi grinned and simmered down.

It took maybe ten minutes for them to get to Malik's apartment. Malik lived with his sister, Ishizu. She was a pretty decent woman in Ryou's opinion and gave them free passes to her museum on occasions. Yuugi jumped out of the car and raced to the second floor of the building to Malik's place, looking like a blur. When Yuugi came back down he had a big beach bag which he dumped back in the trunk.

Malik came down the stairs skipping. Ryou had to stifle a giggle at Malik's appearance. Malik had his swim trunks on, a white undershirt, sandals and a one of those straw hats that looked country. He also had dark sunglasses on and… was that sunscreen? He was also carrying a suitcase and another extra-large beach bag.

"All ready for the beach?" Ryou asked, amused, through the open window.

Malik grinned, handing his bags to Jou and struck a pose. "Surf's up dudes!" he shouted and dived headfirst into the front seat. He ended up with his head in the open door compartment filled with maps and his feet over the headrest, sandals flying next to Ryou. "Owww, frigg'in maps."

"Hey!" Jou shouted from the back of the car. "Careful wit ma car. Ya hear me!" Ryou heard the trunk close and Yuugi and Jou entered the car and took their seats as Malik righted himself, muttering about the evil that big hunks of metal called cars are as well as a few things in another language Ryou knew was Arabic. Ryou handed Malik his sandals back.

"Whoo! To the beach and beyond!" Malik declared pointing at the 'beyond' which was the road. Jou smacked him on the back of the head which made him pout and handed him some of the maps.

"Ya going to help me find da way," Jou declared as the car started moving. Yuugi was bouncing in his seat with excitement, the springs complaining under him. Ryou pulled out one of his books and opened the page that was bookmarked. This was going to be a long ride.

* * *

Ryou noticed that Yuugi had fallen asleep from sheer boredom an hour into the trip. He was now lightly snoring, his blonde bangs moving up and down with his snores. Ryou looked up from his book as another argument started from the front of the car.

He looked out the window. All he saw were cars and gray cement with yellow lines and a nice blue sky with clouds lazily floating by. They were on the interstate, dust creating clouds behind passing cars. They were getting close.

"You missed a turn! See you were supposed to turn left!" Malik said, waving the map in Jou's face while Jou was trying to swat it away.

"Get it out o' ma face, idiot! I can't see da road!" said Jou annoyed as he ripped the map out of Malik's hand while driving with the other. Quite dangerous. "Ya had it upside down, ya idiot! I'm neva having you as a copilot again!"

"I didn't know that sitting in the front meant having to be copilot," Malik huffed as he crossed his arms and pouted. Jou was mean.

"Well, now ya know," Jou said, turning left onto an exit and turning around so they could get back on track.

Ryou chuckled at his friends' antics and looked out the window. A passing sign indicated that they were an hour and a half from Seal Bay. Ryou smiled in anticipation. His uncle had already left for his business trip but had left the key with the next door neighbor.

* * *

"Well here we are!" Jou exclaimed as his car stopped on the driveway of a large beach house. Malik and Yuugi whopped as they dashed out of the car.

"Whoa! Jou, are you sure this is the right place," Yuugi asked intimidated. Ryou got out and saw what had awed Yuugi and Malik into silence. His eyes grew even bigger. Since when was the beach house this big?

The beach house was a **large **white three storey building. It was Victorian styled with a large porch and lawn, miraculously well kept with rosebushes along the side of the house. The garage was big enough for at least three cars and looked like it was occupied. Ryou quickly checked the address in his calendar book he packed. 16144 sw Cougar street. Yup, the right one.

"Yeah this is the place," Ryou confirmed as his friends scraped their jaws from the ground. Malik shouted gleefully and ran to the door tying to open it. Not that it worked very well, they still had to get the key from the neighbor.

"Hurry and get the key," Malik yelled as he ran around the back of the house. He was curious at what else there was in this place.

"Yeah, Ry, we'll take care o' the bags," Jou said as he opened the trunk and Yuugi ran to help. Ryou nodded and walked over to the red house next to their house. Ryou carefully avoided stepping on the grass and knocked on the door, the hollow sound echoing around the inside of the house. An old looking woman opened the door about an eternity later, nervously looking around.

"Yes?" she asked in a scratchy voice that sounded like talking was going to be the death of her.

"Um, my uncle left the key to his summer house here and I came to get it," he explained politely at the old woman.

"Ah, yes," she nodded her head, making her gray hair sway. "You must be Ryou. Yes, let me go get it. Wait a moment for me, dear." She drew back to the house and after a few minutes came back out with a key ring on thin, skeletal fingers. "The gold one is for the house, the silver one for the gate around the pool, and the smaller silver for the truck," she explained, her hand trembling from the weight of the key which Ryou took quickly lest her hand fall off.

Ryou fisted the key ring and bowed respectfully. "Thank you very much."

"Not a problem dear," the old woman smiled. "Your uncle has done me many favors before. It was the least I could do for him. Oh, your such a sweet boy." Ryou smiled civilly at her as she painfully pinked his cheeks with pointy fingers.

Ryou ran back to his friends as the woman closed the door to her house, rubbing his cheeks. All the bags were on the ground near the door and his friends were waiting. Ryou slowed down near the door and inserted the gold key and twisted. The door opened.

The house was not only huge on the outside it was huge on the inside too. On the bottom floor there was a living room with a ten-inch plasma TV, kitchen, stocked with all kinds of food and junk food, a office room with several computers, and a workout room with weights , treadmills, and other exercising machines. On the second floor there was about maybe eight bedrooms all with their own bathrooms and some with balconies attached all looking amazing. On the top floor there was an arcade filled with pool tables, ping pong tables, miniature soccer table, and pinball machines that dotted the inside.

Outside around the back there was a medium sized pool with a gate going around it. Inside the gate there was a large Jacuzzi hot tub and a changing station for both boys and girls. That however paled in comparison to what was below the house. Yuugi found a stairway off the office leading down and, on exploring it, discovered it lead to a **huge** room with an Olympic-sized pool with two diving boards; a six-foot one and a ten-foot one. From the smell of the place it didn't have chlorine in it yet and had built-in lights around the bottom of the pool.

"Holy (insert a swear word of your choice here)," breathed Malik his eyes widening to amazing proportions. All four stood stunned into silence like they were in the presence of a god. Ryou could barely believe it. His uncle was this rich! And to believe they had this mansion to themselves for a month and a half. OMG!

Jou was the first to snap out of it. "Alright, get ya bags and choose ya room." Ryou did was he was advised and picked up his suitcase. He staggered up the stairs, cursing his lack of strength and his uncle for making his stairs so long. He chose a room of to the left side of the stairs and opened the room.

His room was of adequate size. The room had a balcony with an amazing view of the beach, ocean, and the backyard. The walls were painted white with blue trimmings. The door to the bathroom was in front of the queen-sized bed with blue covers. The dresser had a mirror on the wall on top of it. An empty shelf was on the wall next to it, perfect for his books. A night table with a lamp and a digital clock was seated next to his bed just where it was suppose to be, in Ryou's opinion.

Ryou got busy and unpacked. His clothes went in the dresser that had three drawers. His underwear and nightclothes in the top, his shirts in the second, and his pants and shorts in the bottom one. He put his beloved books neatly away on the shelf by author and color. He made sure they wouldn't fall off unexpectedly during the day. He walked into the bathroom. The bathroom had clean white tiles. The sink and toilet were all nice and shiny. The sink had a cabinet over it. The tub was press against the wall and it could hold at least two people (not that he planned to use it that way, no he did not). The curtains were a nice green color.

Ryou put his toiletries in the cabinet. He put his shampoo and soap in the holder in the shower. Ryou examined his room and gave an approving nod. All nice and orderly just like he liked it.

Ryou exited his room and opened the door in front to him. He poked his head into Malik's room. It was like Ryou's room except that the walls were white with a red-violet trimming like the bed covers and the balcony was overlooking the city not the beach. Malik was on the balcony looking at the city with a smile in place. His bags were just thrown all over the place. He hadn't bothered to unpack. Ryou exited quietly and looked into the door next to the room.

Muffled curses came in abundance from the inside. Jou was in the middle of what looked like an explosion of his clothes. His room didn't have a balcony but a large window overlooking the city. His walls were white with orange and red. His bed looked like it had the sunrise painted on it.

"You need help Jou?" Ryou asked carefully walking over clothes to Jou. Jou looked over the mess with a sigh.

"Thanks. I appreciate it buddy," Jou said gratefully. Ryou nodded and smiled. It took the two of them about ten minutes to order the room. They were putting the last of his clothes in the drawers when Jou said, "Ya uncle must be a big moneybag."

Ryou nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I kind of forgot that part myself." He folded a brown short then placed it in the drawer. Jou's family came from a pretty poor one so this place must have shocked him a lot.

"Cool though," Jou said as he stretched. They were finished at last.

"Thanks, I better check on Yuugi," Ryou said and he walked out of now clean room. He closed the door quietly and looked for Yuugi's room. One the third try he found it. The door was on the left of his room. Yuugi was cheerfully putting his stuff away when Ryou stepped in.

"Hey, Ryou," he said. "This is a really cool house. Can we go to the beach now?" He looked hopefully at Ryou.

Yuugi's room had a balcony as well. The walls were a nice white with black trimmings. The bed had a dark blue cover.

Ryou nodded and grinned. "Sure let me tell the guys."

* * *

The beach was awesome; it was one of those perfect paradise beaches that you always hear about but never get to go. They had a great time and not many people were out around the beach so they had it pretty much to themselves. Malik had mostly played in the sand making sand castles, holes, the works with amazing skill (along with stuffing sand down innocents' shorts). Yuugi and Jou had spent the day playing in the cold salty water and starting water fight which Jou won in the end, having several advantages over the puny teenager. Ryou himself spent an ample amount in both. Ryou had to put tons of sunscreen on himself because of his pale skin especially on his face. He did not tan, he burned. It was painful.

They enjoyed the beach until about seven when the sky started to darken and the wind turned chilly. They beat a hasty retreat back the beach house before the actual storm came and blew them away. They didn't want to get blown all the way to Kansas. It would have been a bother to get back.

At the house they hanged out in the arcade ignoring the increasing thunder outside until ten in which Ryou and Yuugi were dead tried and dragged the other two to bed complaining. They said their goodbyes and good nights ("It's still to early!) and went to their room which is where Ryou currently is. Ryou was huddled in his bed and fell asleep moment later.

* * *

Ryou drowsily blinked his eyes open and turned over with a groan, grabbing his sheets and pushing them over his head. He could just tell that it was too early to get up. There were barely enough dim sunlight filtering through the window from him to see the glowing numbers on the clock next to his bed on the night table. It was around 3:00 in the freaking morning. Why did he wake up this early again? He didn't set up the alarm or anything.

Ryou sighed as sleep drifted away from him and forced his blurry eyes open in resignation. He had always been an early riser since normal his school started at 7:30am and he needed time to take a shower, get dressed, pack his lunch and walk the three blocks to his school which took about a half an hour to forty-five minutes since he tidied around the house before he left. He hated living in a messy and disorganized house; he could never find anything.

He had been tired from the beach last night and, for some odd reason, when he was really exhausted he couldn't sleep for long. It was as if his exhaustion overrode his sleepiness and didn't let him sleep much. It had been worth the insomnia to be with his friend at the beach. It had been really fun.

Since Ryou decided that he wasn't going to fall asleep again he was going to do something productive. Maybe he could go and get a head start on breakfast. He knew that Jou and Malik loved his cooking and Yuugi would always compliment him. Yuugi was really as good cook as himself but he served mostly healthy food so Jou and Malik tended to lend to his foods since he was a little lenient in the health department. Maybe today he could make a barmcake.

Ryou reluctantly flung his sheets off him and scooted down his bed. He put his feet on the frosty floor, flinching a bit and stood in the air of his room, cold now because he didn't have his sheets to provide extra warmth. Ryou hugged himself as he paddled over to the dresser, trying to get warm. He quickly took out some warm trousers and a long-sleeved shirt with some socks; he could always change when the weather started to get hotter. He brushed his hair out of his face and took off his pajamas, replacing them with the warmer, more adequate clothing. Ryou sighed as he carefully folded his pajama and placed it on top of his dresser, ready for another night. That was better.

Ryou walked out of his room, tiptoeing as not to make too much noise lest he wake someone up. His socked feet made their way down the cold floor and Ryou was glad for his slight weight. Ryou cautiously opened the door to Malik's room to check if he was awake.

Malik was fast asleep in his bed, snoring as he tossed around in the middle of some dream, kicking the sheets from his bed so that they were on the verge of falling. A small but bright light shone on the little night table next to the bed. Ryou wanted to put the sheets back on his friend but feared that he would wake up from some noise he accidentally made. It was a cold night but Malik seemed fine, drooling a bit from the side of his mouth. Ryou giggled silently, how just like Malik. Ryou closed the door and visited Yuugi's room next.

He was pretty sure that Yuugi was still asleep but it was better to make sure. Maybe he would keep Ryou company if he was up. But, just as he anticipated, Yuugi was neatly curled up under his sheets, the little lump in the sheets moving up and down with his breathing. How precious, Ryou thought. Just like a cuddly toy.

Jou was snoring in his room; Ryou could hear it from behind the closed door and rolled his eyes in good humor. He was all angled up in his orange, yellow, and red sheets looking like he was blended with them. He doesn't move as much as Malik but he does tend to talk in his sleep a bit. That was how Malik got most of his blackmail materials against him.

"Stop," Jou was mumbling and snored loudly. "Don't got no dough… (mumble)…I wanna dat cup'cake wit blue sp'inkles." Snore.

Ryou shot the sleeping Jou a fond look and closed the door, feeling a little guilty at eavesdropping on his mates as they slept. Ryou resigned himself to a few hours of silence before they would wake up and join him. He tiptoed his way down the long staircase to the nice kitchen.

Ryou opened a cupboard and took down a cup with a few tea bangs. He never got rid of the habit of having at least one cup of tea a day; it had been a tradition back in Great Britain with his family. A few minutes later a steaming cup of green tea was ready and he sat himself down at the table, occasionally sipping from the cup, slowly as not to burn his tongue. Hmm, that hit the spot.

In a few minutes, he had finished all his tea and put in away in the hand basin. Ryou stood for a few seconds, indecisive at what to do next. It was would be while before he had company and the storm had obviously blown over by now so maybe he could go on that walk on the beach that he wanted. But what if his friends woke up and he was out of the house? They would panic or something. But he really wanted to go on that walk, it was so nice out.

Yeah, alright. A walk sounded like a nice thing to do. He would be back before his friends woke up anyway. Just a short fifteen minutes walk was the ticket. Ryou nodded and ran upstairs to put on another shirt because, well, it was cold outside and he wasn't very practical to cold weather. He zipped on his mac (Macintosh) and walked to the front door, ready for his walk.

* * *

Second chappy is in the house! Tell me about any mistakes and I will do my best to right them. Reviews with suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you. YOU ROCK OUT LOUD! Until the next installment of this humble little fan fiction in the soup of the fan fictions


	3. When Worlds Collide

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: When Worlds Collide

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or the characters.

**Author Notes: **I would to answer a review that I got by just one question: Jou has a red convertible because he spent over two and a half years saving the money for it and it's a pretty beat up one but, hey, it still works (and I couldn't think of any other type of car, I'm not good with that.) Anyway this chapter is where (as the title claims) they will meet. HA HA HA!

* * *

Ryou walked out of the door of his uncle's summer beach house. His lightweight blue jacket was zipped up against the cold morning breeze that carried the light taste of salt from the ocean. He had anticipated cold weather and put on two shirts. He turned around and slid the gold key into the lock. Once it was securely locked he put the key in his jacket pocket. He didn't want some weirdo to waltz in and trash the house or injure his friends even though Jou and Malik could probably kick his ass from here to next Thursday. They're good like that.

His shoes made small crunching noises as he moved down Cougar street his hands in his pockets. His white hair whipped around his face. All the houses down the block were quiet and peaceful after all it was only about five in the morning. I wonder what woke me up? He though as he walked at a leisurely pace. Really it was just plain annoying that he woke up this early but looking on the bright side, he could make his friends his chocolate pancakes. He and his mother learned how to make them when he was ten and it stuck around ever since. His friends said that he's the best cook in the world. That makes him blush every time.

Ryou huddled in his jacket as a strong breeze shot past him. He smiled slightly; he loved to see the sun rise in the morning. He turned left and saw that at the end of the street had emptied out into the beginning of the beach. He grinned and jogged over.

He slowed down as he entered the beach feeling his shoes sink slightly into the sand. The beach was littered with fallen trees. The palm trees that were lined at the edge of the beach now were everywhere. There were several places in which it was completely covered with vegetation. The seawater lapped the shore gently undisturbed by the disaster. Ryou looked at the damage done by the storm and thanked that they had gotten safely inside. The beach was completely deserted and the whole scene looked oddly peaceful even with all the debris lying around.

He started walking down, careful not to step too deep or too fast otherwise he'll get sand in his shoes. He walked all the way up to the edge of the lapping waves just out of its reach. He turned and walked along the edge. The sky lit up with a soft peach pink color that reached to the other side of the sky erasing the dark blue and black of the night. He liked days in which there was nothing to do other than listen and so he did just that. Along with the waves there were the seagulls crying to each other as they flew, the wind blew stronger now that he was closer to the sea.

He drew his hand out of its pocket with a plastic hair band. He tied his hair in a sloppy ponytail finally leaving his eyes with an open view. It was one of the draw backs of having long hair: it gets in your eyes a lot especially on windy days like today. But he could never bring himself to cut it, it just didn't seem fitting. He dodged a tree branch that ended into the water and sighed. Really, this walk would have been better if he didn't need to watch where he was going.

He remembered doing this when he was a little kid back when his father was still around. His usual emerald eyes dulled to a forest green at the memory. No, his father wasn't dead, no, it was just the opposite. His father was an archeologist over in Egypt and rarely came home and when he did he holed himself in his study doing work. Ryou knew that his father worked hard to earn the money that they used but he couldn't help but to feel a little resentment. It wasn't fair of him to feel that way but he did. He just wished that his father would spend time with him and his mother even for just an hour. That was all he wanted really.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he was straying towards the water. He jumped and yelled as his sneaker entered the water. He jumped back mentally scolding himself for not paying more attention. He limped over to a fallen tree near the shore and sat on it trying not to put his shoe in the sand. That would make it stick to his shoe and he didn't need that. As he sat he felt the palm tree roll backwards and, of course, he fell backwards with it. He landed with a thump with his back on the sand and his legs over the log. He coughed and rubbed his eyes mentally cursing his luck. Mentally, no, Ryou was not the one to curse out loud if it wasn't necessary.

He looked sideways as he sighed. This was not his day. From his sand-blurred vision he saw the sand twinkling from the light making gold, bronze and silver colors shine back at him. Sigh so pretty. Wait, silver? Ryou looked back at the sand near the fallen palm tree quickly blinking the sand out of his eyes.

There! Ryou righted himself rolling in the sand, ending up on his knees. He quickly crawled towards the stand of silver that caught his eye. The sand can't shine silver. He reached out, frowning, and grabbed it lightly. He brought it close to his face but stopped when it stopped firm. The other end of the strand was stuck under the tree and debris. It was so shiny and silky like spider's silk but with a more pronounced color. What was it?

He ran his hands slowly up and down the strand trying to figure out what it was. A sudden gust of wind undid his hastily done ponytail and his hair sprayed in front of his face. He hummed in annoyance and reached a hand to pull it back when he stopped. With wide eyes he observed his hair against the strand. His was white while the other was silver but the figure was exactly the same. So the strand was a hair strand so that meant… his eyes traveled from the tip to the end were it disappeared under the vegetation. It stopped when he tried to pull it out so…

Holy crap! There was a person under there! He sucked in a deep breath telling himself to be calm then shouted, "Holy crap! Are you there? Are you alive?" Panic built up in his stomach then shook it off with a firm word to himself. He then turned around and put his back to the tree and pushed backwards, his feet sliding in the sand. Damnit! The tree refused to budge. He applied more pressure cursing his lack of strength. He had to get the person out of there or he could die maybe he was already dead. No, Ryou shook his head and pushed harder. Do not make assumptions without having the whole proof.

Ryou felt the log start to roll the other way and inwardly cheered. He grunted as he palm tree completely rolled of the body. He sat up straight before he fell on the person. He scrabbled upright and looked at the person.

From the torso down was covered in bushed and other plants. The person looked at about seventeen or eighteen, a few years older than himself. He was very well built with a firm tan chest and lean stomach Ryou noted staring at it but it looked like a cheese grater had been taken to it, nastily too. There were thousands of cut down the stomach and chest. Some were still bleeding profusely making the sand turn dark. His face paled at the damage done; around the ribcage area there were these huge purple and black bruises that just shouted broken ribs. His left hand was purple and bleeding. The face of the man was better but there was a gash that looked infected on his neck just above his collarbone. He had beautiful silver hair that was dulled because of the blood that matted it. The hair covered the face. Gods, what in the seven hells had this guy been doing! Did he get caught in the storm?

Ryou's gaze fell on the bottom part of the man that was covered with plants. If the torso was his badly cut up, what would the legs look like? With a shaky hand he reached out for a big branch that covered most of the legs and, with a gulp, pulled it off reveling almost all of the bottom part of the guy. But the funny part is that there were no legs. Nope, no legs just a great big white-gray tail. A fish tail to be more exact.

Ryou eyes nearly popped out of his head. A tail…this guy had a fish tail. For a few seconds his brain refused to accept the information so he just kept staring at it. Then his consciousness broke thru and he snapped out of it. So this guy was a mermaid, no, merman. Ok, Ok he could deal. Right? He reached out and hesitantly brushed the scales. He was shocked that he actually felt them so the theory that this was a hallucination was busted. His shocked look turned worried when the scales felt rough and dry as if they hadn't had water for a time. Some of the scales had broken off leaving tender pink skin to show especially some parts in which patches of scales had been taken off.

He shifted to the head. He brushed away the hair from the neck, his heart pumping in his ribcage. He pressed two fingers against the uninjured side of the neck. His skin also felt dry. How long had his guy been out of the water? The storm must have blown him out of the sea onto the shore. For several scary moments he couldn't feel anything then…there…a small weak pulse but a pulse never less. The merman was alive, Ryou felt so relived but he wouldn't last long with those injuries and the quickly rising sun. He had to do something soon.

He didn't know anything about healing. That was Yuugi's area of expertise. That's it! His friends could help after all he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to lift him up much less carrying him back to the beach house. He just couldn't dump the merman back in the water with all those sharks and who knows what else out there in his state.

He shrugged his jacket off, ignoring the chill in the air, and draped it on the sand next to the pale merman. He ran to the other side and put his hands under a side of the back. Slowly and with caution, to make sure he didn't hurt the guy even more, he turned the merman over on his stomach. His previous guess was correct, this guy was heavy. The merman fell on the jacket on the sand. Ryou gasped, horrified. On his back there was the worst wound of them all. A big, deep slash was on his back from the right shoulder to the left hip. Gods, it was still bleeding. If he didn't stop the bleeding the merman could die of blood loss.

Ryou quickly thought a plan. He pulled off his first shirt leaving the second shirt on. He folded it making it as thick as he could and put in on the back wound. The white shirt was slowly becoming red on the edges. Ryou reached to the other side where the sleeve of his jacket poked out from under the merman. He grabbed it and, using his elbow to hold his shirt down firmly, brought it to the middle. His other hand got the other sleeve and tied it firmly around the unconscious merman supporting the shirt under it.

Ryou stood up wiping his forehead. This was all he could do for now. He grabbed the braches and plant life around and covered the merman. He didn't want somebody else to find this guy and turn him in the police or something. Who knows what those creeps could do?

"I'll be back," he whispered to the debris-covered merman. He turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could, slipping several times due to the sand. He quickly got up again. He ran faster than ever now that a life hung on the balance. He passed the end of the beach now running even faster without the sand to hinder him. His shoes made sharp tapping noises on the concrete of the street. He passed still quiet houses onto Cougar street. The wind whipped his hair around and he impatiently pushed it away. He couldn't run fast enough. He raced onto the lawn of the summer house to the front porch. He fumbled with the key and slotted it in the lock and burst the door open.

"WAKE UP!" he yelled in the silent house, his voice echoing dramatically as it shattered the silence. His legs pushed him past the kitchen onto the staircase yelling at the top of his lungs all the way. There wasn't time for this! He barged to into the closest room he could find which was conveniently Yuugi's.

The small teenager was awoken with yelling and the bang of his door off the wall. His purple eyes widened at seeing his friend yelling.

"Yuugi! Yuugi, come on get up!" Ryou said urgency lacing his tone. "We have to go, come on!" Ryou raced to Yuugi where he was sitting up on his bed looking startled and bewildered. Ryou pulled Yuugi's arm pulling him out off the bed. "Come on," he said frustrated.

Yuugi yelped as he was forced to stand. "Ryou, wha-" he said as Ryou threw him a pair of pants. "Ryou what going on?" he said just in time for Malik and Jou to charge in ready for a fight.

"Where's the fire!"

"What happened ya guys!"

Ryou grabbed their arms. "There's no time to explain. I found something on the beach. Hurry and put on some clothes," he said urgently. Jou, Malik, and Yuugi looked at Ryou. His eyes were huge and there was sand everywhere on him. His face was etched with worry, urgency, and panic. They knew Ryou was a relatively calm and colleted guy. It had to be something big that shook him up like this. Ryou wasn't the guy to pull pranks or trick you. They trusted Ryou.

Malik was the first to decide, "Right, be back in a second." He raced out of the room. Jou nodded and shot out too. Ryou was shooed out side while Yuugi changed. Ryou ran downstairs. He waited impatiently jumping from foot to foot wishing his friends would hurry up. He was nearly mad with worry. Was the merman Ok? Did he die already? Did someone find him?

"Hurry up!" he yelled at the stairs and several thumping noises came as his friends came down running. They were all dress hastily. Jou was still buttoning the zipper on his jeans. Yuugi had a jacket half way on while Malik was finishing pushing down his shirt.

"Follow me!" he said and raced down the porch. His friends hastily followed trying to keep up with Ryou. The air was slightly warmer than before but that didn't matter. He needed to get back to the merman. His steps made tapping sounds that were echoed by his friends behind him. He turned right making for the beach. Malik, Jou and finally Yuugi, ran after him all fueled by the urgency on their normally passive friend. Ryou didn't even notice when the concrete turned into sand.

He passed the sand making a beeline towards the clump of plants. He stopped next to it, his chest heaving up and down. Sweat dripping down his face and neck. He turned to look as his friends as they were only just entering the beach. He waved wildly to them urging them to go faster.

"Faster! Hurry!" he pushed them on. Malik and Jou drew up to Ryou and a little later Yuugi, panting from the effort. He wasn't good with sports or exercise. Ryou quickly motioned for Yuugi to come closer and quickly dragged the vegetation off completely. Three sets of eyes widened at the jacket covered merman.

"That's a-a-a," Jou stumbled on his words shocked beyond belief. His honey-brown eyes staring unbelievingly at the scene before him.

"Merman," whispered Yuugi awed. He kneeled beside Ryou on the sand his hands hovering over the fictitious person as if afraid to actually touch him.

Suddenly Malik threw his fist in the air, "Yes! I knew they existed! Ishizu owes me twenty bucks!" He did a happy dance then stopped when Jou hit him on the back of the head. Jou had gotten over the initial shock. Jou was good like that; he accepts the facts even if they are so far out there like the present one.

Ryou looked at them for a second then gently unbound the jacket off the merman. Ryou winced as he slowly peeled the now red shirt of the slash wound. The three teens gasped at the sight once it was off. Yuugi's face paled as he looked at Ryou, his mind already assessing the problem.

"I found him a few minutes ago," Ryou explained quickly. "I'm not sure about this stuff so I brought you guys. He has a lot of wounds on his stomach and chest. His ribcage and left fist was covered in bruises and this scratch on his neck looks infected."

Yuugi quickly took in the information and did a quick overall on the wound. He slightly pressed and saw that the infection had just recently set in. Then Yuugi's face took on this look of grim determination that made him look older than usual. His eyes hardened immediately planning what to do to save the merman.

"Right," he nodded briskly and took the red shirt from Ryou and pressed it back on the wound then tied the sleeves together again. "We have to take him back to the beach house. I don't have the necessary tools with me. Jou take the head. Malik take the feet, I mean, tail carefully, and try not to touch the wounds."

Malik and Jou nodded and did as they were told after all Yuugi was the expert in these matters. Malik moved to where the tail joined skin and put his arms around it, digging in the sand to the other side. "Hey guys," he said looking worriedly at the tail. "We have to move quick because this guy's tail feels way too dry for a fish." Yuugi nodded thinking.

Ryou grabbed the shoulders of the merman and lifted them and the head just high enough for Jou to get his arms around the chest. The silver and red hair moved from the face but he had no time to observe it. Jou nodded to Malik, who returned it, and they heaved upwards at the same time. They managed to get the merman to about waist height.

"Gah," Jou grunted trying his best to keep a firm hold while not touching the wounds that were dripping blood from under the jacket. "Wat's dis guy been eat'en, rocks?" Malik huffed in agreement. It was taking their combined strength to lift him up and carry him inch by inch towards the street. The sand making their progress even slower as not to trip. Yuugi was watching carefully trying to make sure the jacket didn't slip. Ryou held up the fin that was being dragged in the sand and tucked it under his arm. Ryou noticed that the fin was more of a pearl white and had a dull sheen when the light hit it even though he knew with some water it would look better.

As they moved pain-strikingly slow up the street Ryou thought that the merman's tail was maybe five inches longer than the legs the merman would have if he was fully human. They went slowly careful of avoiding any early morning joggers with dogs. They had quickly agreed to keep the merman from preying eyes. Yuugi jogged ahead to make sure the coast was clear. It was nearing 6 am and some people were beginning to go to work. Finally at long last they neared the lawn of the beach house. Jou and Malik were red-faced with the effort they were putting in to keep the merman in the air. They had to work a bit when they came to the porch steps but somehow made it safely up.

"Ry, da key," Jou grunted shifting impatiently to get rid of the heavy load. Ryou thought and groaned.

"The key is in my jacket," he said softly. The jacket was now currently wrapped around the merman. Jou sighed while Malik cursed forcefully. Yuugi, who winced at the foul language, started to slowly search the jacket-now-bandage with fast nimble fingers. He reached for a pocket near the center close to a small scratch. His hand closed around a slightly sticky key with a slight grimace. He retreated with the key and turned to the light blue door. He quickly opened it.

"Right," Yuugi said hastily as the four teens and an unconscious merman entered the building. "Guys go to the living room, it's the biggest room. Ryou go get one of the plastic table clothes and put it on the floor." Ryou gently put the fin on the floor while Malik and Jou shuffled to the living room, dripping drops of blood on the floor.

Ryou ran to the kitchen. He frantically looked for the stool and found it next to the pantry door. He grabbed it and put it in front of the refrigerator with a loud cluck. He stood on it and barely reached to the top of the fridge to where the cabinet was located that had all the plastic forks and spoons and stuff. He reached in and started shifting thru not caring about all the stuff that was falling on the floor. He had this overwhelming desire to make sure the merman lived. Finally at the very back he found the table cover. He yanked it out and jumped from the stool the table cloth spreading out like a cape behind him.

Ryou made his way quickly to the living room to see Malik and Jou still holding the merman in the air with a lot of difficulty while Yuugi was clearing the space in front of the TV and next to a heavy black sofa. The space provided enough room to lay the merman and for his friends and him to sit around.

"Hurry," Malik strained his knees bending a little under the weight. OK so a little more than that but you get the picture. Yuugi went over to Ryou and together they spread the table cloth on the floor. Malik and Jou quickly and softly put the merman on the floor on the cloth. The end of the fin went past the end of the cloth on to the carpet.

Yuugi quickly kneeled on one side of the merman and Ryou on the other. They gingery took off the makeshift bandage. Once off they tossed it onto a corner of the cloth. Now that all the wounds were open to the air they begun to bleed even more.

Yuugi shot out orders, "Jou go and get bandages and a towel."

"Roger dat," Jou nodded and ran off to one of the upstairs bathrooms.

"Malik get the biggest bucket you can find and fill it with water and then bring disinfectant," Yuugi said. Malik dashed off to do the errand. "Ryou I need help assessing all the cuts and bruises so help me."

In between the two they looked and identified the damage. In only a minute Jou came down with arms full of white bandages and several towels with Malik, only seconds away with a large bucket that Ryou was sure he wouldn't be able to lift and a bottle labeled 'disinfectant' in bright red letters. All of the objects that they had were put carefully next to Yuugi especially the bucket. Then they looked down from their standing position next to the kneeling boys.

Yuugi nodded slightly still looking at all the damage. Yuugi took one towel and soaked it in the water from the bucket. Once it was sufficiently wetted and rinsed slightly he started cleaning all the blood off the merman. Ryou did the same when he was passed one. Carefully and delicately the passed the towel over all the dry and not so dry blood from the tan chest. Ryou couldn't help but to marvel at how firm and sculptured it was. Ryou felt a slight blush come on and brushed aside those thoughts. This wasn't the time. Both towels were quickly becoming red with blood and they were moved aside once their purpose was fulfilled.

Yuugi took the disinfectant and a smaller towel. He opened the bottle and poured a small amount on it. "Alright guys," he said nervously holding the towel at the ready. "Be careful. I'm not sure how he will react to this stuff." Jou and Malik nodded and scooted back. Ryou stood his ground remembering how painful that stuff was and hoping the merman wouldn't be in too much pain.

Yuugi carefully put an edge of the towel one of the bigger cuts. He jerked back when the merman's head shifted to the other side with a slightly painful look; the tail twitched a little as well. Yuugi took a deep breath and quickly dabbed at the closest cut which was pretty deep. The merman bucked under the burning touch of the disinfectant. His tail rammed sideways into the sofa making it fall over itself with a bid bang on the floor. His face was converted in a really painful look. Ryou drew back at the sudden movement.

"Look's like there's no easy way to do this," Yuugi said to the others once they had recovered from the shock. "If we wait too long even more blood will be lost. Jou and Malik grab his tail and hold it down. Be careful thought it must be pretty strong to move that sofa unconscious."

"We'll do the best we can, Yug," Jou said wearily and moved into position.

"Here goes nothing," Malik mumbled and both of them grabbed the tail and pushed down on it with their bodies. They basically crawled on it. They gave a stiff nod to Yuugi when they were ready.

"Ryou go by the head and hold it." Ryou crawled over to the head. He moved the dirty silver hair and lifted it a bit. He moved and kneeled so when he put the head back down it was on Ryou lap with his hair spiraling around. Yuugi dipped the towel back into the bottle and gave the ready signal. Jou and Malik both tensed and pushed down harder. Yuugi put the whole towel on a deep cut pressing down.

The whole body of the merman jumped. The face of the merman contorted in pain as it half lifted from Ryou's lap, his mouth open in a moan of pain showing off his slightly larger than average canines. His hair moved behind his face revealing slightly pointed ears. Jou and Malik were almost lifted off the ground by the tail as it swung right and left jerking them with it as they did their best to hold it down but weren't doing very much good.

"Whoa!" Malik yelled as was thrown around with Jou, who was also yelling, as Yuugi cleaned the cuts as fast as was humanly possible. Ryou had to do something! Ryou grabbed the head between his hands and lowered it back to his lap as the merman moaned and let out half strangled yells. Ryou did the first thing that came to his mind. Ryou started brushing the silky hair between his fingers, humming softly as he remembered his mother did to his when he was a young child when he had nightmares. He transferred all of the comfort and peacefulness he had felt at those moments into his humming. His warm fingers ran thru the strands of red and silver slowly ready to assure the one under them to rest in peace. His green eyes closed halfway and observed never once stopping his motions.

The merman had continued to buck and twist away but when the fingers ran across his hair and the humming had become audible he slowly moved with less and less power. His face had become a peaceful look as Ryou continued. His tail became passive and Jou and Malik just laid there in the end. Yuugi continued to clean the cuts with only slight bucks and little movement. The face constricted once in a while with pain but it became less and less often as Ryou lulled the merman back into unconsciousness without pain and knowledge. His friends had amazed looks as they witness their friend lull the merman into peace.

Yuugi had now moved to the neck where the infection had settled in the cut. He ran the towel in the cut, deeper than all the other ones. The merman's head jerked a little but other than that it was all. They had to turn over the merman to get the gash on his back, in which Jou and Malik helped. That took a while and, even with Ryou's peaceful actions, it made the merman jerk harder and moan louder in pain as the disinfectant did its job. It hurt Ryou to see the merman in such pain and torment even if this was for his own good so he sang softly with no real words, his fingers still moving. It seemed as if the merman was listening as he became even more still and at peace. Yuugi, Malik, and Jou also listened to Ryou's light and slightly high-pitched voice as he sang. It wasn't the best in the world but it was beautiful never less.

"Well," Yuugi said once he had finished disinfecting as he put the bottle and towel aside. "Now it's time to bandage them."

All four of the teens helped with that. They had to start over a few times because the blood had bled thru the bandages. It was patient work that Ryou and Yuugi excelled at but Jou and Malik had to work a little harder at it than the others. They kept bandaging the wrong parts and at the wrong angle. Once they finished the merman's whole chest and back had been bandaged. His arms had also been bandaged but in less quantity. Yuugi had made sure that the bandages had been tight enough for them not to fall off but not tight enough to cut off his circulation. His neck had been wrapped too; it now looked like a white choker or something along those lines. Yuugi had also decided to wrap some parts of the tail where masses of scales had been cut off.

Since Yuugi declared that the left fist was broken and they didn't have anything to make a cast, they wrapped it tightly so that the now aligned bones would not move. But that was pretty difficult due to the fact that the merman's hands were webbed. Not totally though, only about half way up the fingers that was where translucent skin stopped. They had to maneuver the bandages into weird positions to get the required result.

They all stood up and gazed down at their handy work feeling distinctly pleased in their work.

"That's about all we can do," Yuugi said wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

Jou rubbed his shoulders, "Dat guy is strong. I'm pretty sure I've got a bruise da size of China on ma stomach."

"Tell me about it," Malik moaned as he stretched his arms. Ryou had put his hair back in a ponytail to look at Yuugi worriedly. He was pleased at their progress but there still was a long way to go. Now to the second order of business…

"What do we do about water?" he asked looking at the dry tail. "He has to get water soon."

"We can just plop him in da pool," Jou said offhand brushing his fingers thru his slightly damp hair.

Yuugi shook his head, "Too much water will make his bandages fall off and probably make him bleed again. He need to keep him in a limited water source at least until he wakes up and I can find out more about merpeople's healing rate and other stuff. We don't want to do something that could be fatal and cause him to panic." He twisted his hands nervously.

Malik looked sideways at Ryou, "Even if he does I'm sure Ryou will be able to clam him. Right buddy?" He nudged Ryou with his elbow a smirk on his face. Ryou's face colored slightly as he battered away the poking appendage.

"Stop it," he mumbled. "It's just something my mother use to do."

"Hey, guys?" Jou said looking at the passive merman. "Doesn't he look a bit like Ryou?"

They all took a second look. It was true to a certain degree. They looked exactly the same except that Ryou's hair was more of a snow white while the merman's was a darker silver and was more spiked. The merman had a tanner skin than Ryou's delicate white skin. The merman was also more muscular and, well, manly looking. His face was sharper and it looked like his eyes were slanted and narrower than his. Ryou wondered what color they were. And the obvious difference was the lack of a fish tail on Ryou. Over all, the merman was really handsome even with all the bandages on him. Ryou's eyes traveled over the length of the merman thinking that he was easily the most handsome creature he had ever seen. Ryou quickly shooed that thought away with a light scolding to himself. He shouldn't be thinking such thoughts, at least not now.

"Well," Malik broke the silence as he put his hand to his chin. "Where do we put him then?" They all fell silence again thinking.

Then an idea struck Jou. His fist hit the palm of his other hand with a smack. "Let's stick him in da bathtub!" That drew startled looks as he hastily explained himself. "I mean da bathtubs are big enough don't ya think? Dere's not enough water ta undo da bandages. It's perfect!" He looked really pleased with himself.

Ryou cocked his head thinking. That would work. They could put the merman in the bathtubs then they could transfer him to the indoor pool when he recovered enough. While in the bathtub they could easily check on the bandages and his progress. Hopefully, the merman will cooperate with them.

Yuugi nodded slowly then a bright smile lit his face up, "Great idea Jou! Now where in which bathtub should we put him in?"

"Mine," Ryou blurted out before he could stop himself. They looked at him as he colored and explained quickly, "I have the biggest one and I could check up on him." Since Malik was shooting him this knowing look that made his violet eyes shine dangerously with glee he added, "It's also the closest one to the stairway."

"Good enough fo me," Jou grinned then grimaced. "After all, I'm da one dat's got ta carry 'im. And he's no lightweight I'm telling ya." So in the end they decided to stick him in Ryou's bathtub.

Malik and Jou once again carried the merman. It was slow work going up the stairs and they came close to dropping him several times. Ryou walked ahead opening the door to his room. He quickly went to the bathroom and moved the curtain aside. The white porcelain of the tub gleaned back at him. Ryou opened the faucet and put it to the coldest he could get it. After all, the merman lived in the Pacific Ocean right? The water there's below freezing. The water flowed into the tub slowly filling it. It took about seven minutes for it to fill completely. He was just turning off the faucet when he heard his friends shuffling into his room with their cargo.

Ryou quickly moved out of the way and his friends went in. Jou and Malik gently put the merman in the cold water watching his body sink all the way to the bottom of the tub. It was a snug fit for the merman leaving enough room for him to move his arms and a little for his tail. The fin just barely poked out of the water.

Ryou watched as the sliver hair was quickly cleansed of the dried blood. It now looked like spun moonlight, shimmering as it did. The scales shined a little more now, a shade lighter than the hair but it looked more like early morning mist with the edges of the scales a sharper granite gray color. It was beautiful.

"Now what?" Malik asked quickly getting bored of staring at the submerged merman. Little bubbles of air come from the slightly opened mouth and what looked like behind his ears.

"Well," Yuugi suggested. "We should at least check on him every hour or so until he wakes. But other than that we can, well, watch a movie or play video games or something fun."

They all took one last look at the water before they filed out with Malik shouting about challenging Jou to game of racecars to which was greeted by a shout of "Ya on! Prepare ta get ya ass fried like chicken!" Ryou hesitated a moment before exiting, looking back. He wished he could do something else for the aquatic creature in his bathtub but the only thing he could do now was wait and hope. So he did just that.

* * *

There we are! I am victorious! Anyway here it is and I hope that you enjoyed it. I have like a lot of homework to do lately along with the science fair which ALL middle school students must participate. NOT COOL! This is the third time I've done it and it doesn't get any funnier let me tell you. We don't even get partners this year. CURSE YOU SCHOOL! DIE! Thank you for listening to my rambling and I will try to get the next chapter up after I finish the eighth chapter to Mages and Knights. As always review and make me happy ;) (Maybe it'll take my mind off school.)


	4. The Sea Awakes

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: The Sea Awakes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or the characters or anything other than my pillows and my fluffy!

**Author Notes: **Hello again, Illusionwolf here logging in once again to give you another exciting chapter of Dancing on the Tide. I'm sorry if I didn't update soon enough, I was working on a new story. Now, I know what you're going to say: Another one! You haven't even finished the first two! I know but I get these ideas and I just have to write them (see my profile if you want info on it). Anyway, thank you again for all those who reviewed to little ol' me. Sooo, there it is (God, that was lame).

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Yuugi said looking worriedly at Ryou from the door entrance. Ryou smiled. Yuugi was the biggest worry wart he had ever known but that was one of the qualities that made him a great friend.

"I'll be fine Yuugi," Ryou said reassured his friend.

"Yeah, don't worry so much Yuugi it's bad for your health," Malik said as he came downstairs. He was all bundled up in countless sweaters and jackets with matching gloves and a hat that squashed down his hair. It looked as if he was expecting a snowstorm from Antarctica to be raging outside. "Come on, let's go I'm hungry."

"Wat do ya mean hungry?" Jou came thru the front door looking skeptically at Malik. "You're da one dat ate all da grub for weeks inta three days."

"Hey!" Malik looked insulted as he walked to Jou probably trying to mock intimidate him. Not that it worked since Jou was about two inches taller and being stuffed in bundle of clothes didn't help much. "You're the one to talk. You ate all of the bread! You even ate the cookie dough! I didn't even know there was any cookie dough!"

Jou coughed embarrassed as the other three smiled. "Yeah, well, who cares? I don't, let's go." He walked out the door but not before he flipped the bird at the bundled up sixteen-year old. Malik snickered and followed him out moving somewhat stiffly. Yuugi started to follow but looked back still worried about leaving Ryou in the huge house with an unconscious merman in the upstairs bathroom.

"Go on Yuugi," Ryou said shooing Yuugi outside, kindly pushing him "You showed me what to do if the merman wakes up and if someone doesn't go with those two they'll eat the whole store without paying." Ryou and Yuugi chuckled as Yuugi nodded and walked out the door. Ryou stood there until he saw Jou's car roaring down the street towards the market. If he knew Jou and Malik, they probably won't be back for maybe four hours or so. They always try to sneak out some food and usually get caught. Well, Jou was the one who got caught; Malik was an expert thief for some reason. He never asked and didn't plan to.

Ryou searched his mind for something to do and the first thing that popped into his mind was to check the merman. The merman had been asleep for two days and a half and it was really starting to worry him. Yuugi told him that the merman needed to rest a lot to recuperate but it still concerned him. Ryou locked the door and hanged the key on the little hooks next to the door where the other two keys were hanging. Jou had taken the keys off the key ring saying that he hated those little 'metal hoops dat are out to get ya'. Ryou ran to the kitchen and looked in the pantry for anything-_anything- _at all that was spared form Jou and Malik's hunger spree. All there was a pancake mix packet. Might as well do it.

Ryou pulled the packet from the pantry and dropped it on the counter. He pulled on a nearby apron and pulled his hair into a quick ponytail. He washed his hands and got out a metal mixing bowl putting it down near the packet. He poured three cups of the mix into the bowl with two cups of water. Ryou smiled as he opened the refrigerator taking out two eggs. He just loved to cook; the eggs were quickly broken and dumped into the bowl. He took out one of the metal mixer thing and mixed until there were a very small amount of lumps of batter in it.

Ryou took out a flat pan and poured six pancakes which was all the pan would let him do. He put the pan on top of the stove and turned it on. It would take about seven minutes for it to be ready to turn over to cook the other side. Ryou took off the apron and walked upstairs. It was dangerous to leave the stove on without supervision but he just had to check on the merman every thirty minutes or so hoping that he was awake. It's his maternal instinct as Malik calls it, never mind that he isn't a girl.

Ryou opened his room door and walked to the closed bathroom. He stopped his hand an inch from touching the doorknob. He sucked in a breath and listened for any sound from the inside. Nothing. He slowly turned the knob and curiously poked his head inside. The merman was as inactive as Ryou had checked him forty minutes ago. Ryou made sure all the bandages were in their correct places and that they were still tight enough. Ryou dipped a hand in the water and lightly ran over the dark silver hairs that lead him to the merman.

"I wish I could see your eyes," Ryou whispered as he left reluctantly back to his pancakes.

* * *

This water tasted funny. That was the logical thought that his mind formed. He slowly opened his heavy eyes looking up at the water. It looked weird. Usually there was sunlight filtering thru the water lighting it. But this time there was only some odd marble like structure near the water making look disoriented. Is he back at the palace? He turned his head trying to look at where he was but stopped at the sharp pain from his neck. Bakura hissed painfully and he moved a hand towards it. Instead of a wound he found something like really soft white seaweed wrapped around his neck.

His brows furrowed on his forehead as he frowned. He most certainly had no recollection of putting this thing on. The last thing he remembered was being tossed around into the reef by a huge whirlpool and a lot of stinging. He also remembered a soft voice humming in the background of his pain filled memories not that he had many of that event but still. His hand brushed something similar on his chest. He looked past the dimmed water to see his chest was covered with the same material as his neck. Was this some kind of new plant that he got tangled in? No, the only place that it covered was his neck, chest and some parts of his tail, all tied neatly. Where the hell was he? He tried to turn around just to be stopped by some kind of white barrier that he found was on either side of him. He gripped either side of the white stone and pulled himself upwards trying not to over strain his wounds. To his surprise he broke thru the water into air.

On thing was for certain, he was not in the ocean anymore. Bakura looked around his eyes narrowing dangerously as he hissed, his hair sticking to his face and neck. He was in some kind of container near the far side wall opposite to the door. In the room there was a table made with wood (kind of like the driftwood his kind uses) with a stone basin on it. Next to it was a larger basin with a stone box behind it. His eyes moved quickly around trying to detect any from of danger. None presented itself but he didn't allow his suspicion to go away.

After a while nothing happened. He still didn't let down his guard as he looked around for any means of escape. Seeing none he growled, frustrated, not that he could do much if he did find one but crawl or something which he really had no experience at. From his position he could see the whole room but his back was killing him. He remembered the deep gash left by hitting the wall. Bakura tried to turn to touch or at least see the damage but stopped where searing pain raced up his spine. He barely stopped himself from screaming as he hastily closed his eyes. It took a while but when it dulled, he leaning against the wall of the container breathing heavily. Damn, that wasn't one of the smartest things he had ever done. Maybe he could heal it with his magic. His eyes flashed silver as the gash on his back glow silver thru the seaweed wrap thing. But nothing happened. Ok sure, he had never been one of the greatest healers around but even he could have at least sped up the process. He tried again but nothing happened.

"Damn it," he growled. This isn't good. He was wounded in unknown territory. His tail flicked angrily breaking the water causing the liquid to spill onto the floor. Ok, he should stop moving now. That last flick slapped some of the scale less skin on the side of the container. He sighed, roughly running his fingers thru his hair. His left fist was tightly bound, good because he was pretty sure he broke it. This time he moved slower pulling his fin over the side of the short white wall thing. His back was lightly pressed against the wall with his torso still underwater. He had a prefect view of the entrance.

He noticed something shining dully over the side next to him. It looked like a metal tube with littler metal circles over it. Near the ceiling was what looked something like a metal flower or something with tiny holes in the middle. Bakura curiously poked the shinny tube sticking his finger on his uninjured hand thru the hole. Hmm, what's this funny looking thing? He moved to the circles above it. He slowly twisted the one on the right. And it started raining.

"Wait, wha-" he gasped as droplets of water cascaded from the flower thing on the ceiling. He twisted it again but the water sprayed harder at him and it didn't help that it was boiling hot either. He quickly twisted it the other way desperately trying to stop the flow of hot water. The metal circle stopped the water but it also came out into his hand leaving a small stick from where it previously was. Bakura brought the hot raining water bringer thing up to eye level. He shook it trying to figure out how it works. Maybe it only works if it's connected to the wall. He tried to stick the thing back into the wall but it wouldn't stay on. Bakura huffed and threw the circle over the edge of the container and it landed with a clang on the floor. Stupid, water raining thingy.

He was going to investigate the still attached circle on the wall when he heard soft thumping noises somewhere to his left. He froze, his eyes moving with the noise as if he could see thru the walls. His good hand tightened into a fist as he got ready to defend himself from whatever had brought him here. He wasn't about to go down the easy way. The soft thumps came out a few good feet from the room and stopped momentarily as a creak was heard. Bakura tensed as his eyes slowly lit up silver. The door clicked and slowly pulled open. Bakura got ready to send some magic pulses thru the air at the intruder's way but when the figure stood out in the open Bakura did a double take, his magic fading away in surprise.

Standing in the doorway was a human. A human boy at about fifteen, fourteen years old to be more exact. A human boy that looked a lot akin to him. The human had a slim build with a thin waist like a girl. His pale white complexion surrounded large sparkling eyes that were the color of the sea emeralds found in the coral caves and were lit up with surprise making them a shade brighter. He had mother-of-pearl white hair that looked really soft if someone where to touch it, tied up with a piece of string. The legendary legs of the human race appeared out of a baggy cloth around his waist, smooth and pale like the rest of him ending in weird feet protectors. His pink lips formed a pale 'o' at seeing the merman. His aura giving him a passive and kind feeling off to Bakura. The only word Bakura could use to describe this human in front of him was beautiful.

Ryou wasn't expecting the merman to be awake like all the other times he checked so, naturally, seeing the merman up and kicking almost sent him into a coma. The merman's long slim tail hanged over the edge of the bathtub with his back to the wall, fin lying against the floor tiles. Ryou could have sworn that the eyes were sliver when he entered but now they were a rich dark mahogany color that were narrowed. The merman's face was etched with slight surprise but was mostly filled with mistrust. This ethereal creature started back as dark mahogany looked into soft emerald. The way the skin smoothly melted to white-gray scales and the way his hair outlined his face and hanged over his eyes making him as mysterious as the ocean depths. His muscles under the tan skin and scales rippling, showing off their size and strength. The merman had been handsome in sleep but now awake he was unearthly gorgeous.

Merman and human stared silently at each other. One trying to detect any hostility even if it was unlikely to come from such a soft looking creature, the other trying to get his mind to function enough to say something. The silence stretched out to five minutes…eight minutes…ten minutes. Ok, this was just getting plain stupid now.

Bakura huffed in annoyance and straightened his back slowly into a better sitting position. The human jumped a little at the sudden movement and a small blush settled across the bridge of his nose. Bakura couldn't help but smirk a little at the cute creature. Then he waited for the human to say something since he certainly wasn't going to be the first to crack. Riigghhtt, aren't human suppose to know how to talk or is that just a meridian myth? Bakura lifted an elegant eyebrow as if saying "Now what?"

Ryou colored even more at the raised eyebrow. The merman had this cool and undisturbed look that was darkened with suspicion making him look perilous. You'd think that after twenty minutes of staring would make the surprise evaporate. Ryou's eyes roamed the bathroom trying to find something to say when he noticed the shower knob on the floor surrounded by split water. He took small timid steps towards it, the merman following his every move. He knelt down avoiding the water and gently took the knob from the floor. He looked up at the merman and smiled shyly not sure how to act with a merperson.

Bakura couldn't help but notice that the smile made the human even prettier looking than before. The human stood up and walked over to the larger basin. Bakura tensed at the human who was approaching. The teen stopped them gestured a little to the big basin. Bakura hesitated then nodded his permission for the human to sit next to the containment thingy.

"Can I ask what happened to this?" The human said softly showing Bakura the shower knob. The voice was smooth, acquiescent, and a bit high-pitched but over all that made it peaceful and trustworthy. Bakura had a notion that he could listen all day to that voice and not get tired. Bakura cocked his head thinking if he should answer. The human was talking in English, good; it was one of his more polished languages along with Russian and Japanese. Well, he certainly wasn't going anywhere so might as well go along. For now anyway.

"You can ask but that doesn't mean I'll answer you," the merman responded at Ryou surprising him. The merman had a deep, smooth voice that seemed to make the air around him vibrate. Ryou shivered slightly his face blushing even more.

"Well, I don't usually find my shower knobs on the floor," Ryou said timidly holding said knob between both hands looking anywhere but at the merman. Ryou was trying to act casual-like but those eyes made him edgy as if they knew what he was thinking.

"And I don't usually find myself stuck in some weird containment box," the merman said shifting, the water lapping around appearing slightly amused at Ryou's actions. "How did I get here anyway?"

Ryou carefully put the knob on the counter of the sink. "I found you," Ryou explained ducking his head a little. "You were on the beach after the storm and, umm, not in the best of conditions so, uh, I brought you here to, well, get better and stuff." His voice trailed away feebly not sure how to explain as his heart sped up.

The merman hummed softly apparently thinking. He lifted his fin slowly up and down like some humans tap their feet. Ryou follow the movement with his eyes mesmerized with the way the artificial light struck the fin making it change colors as it moved up and down. It went from transparent, to white, to gray, to light yellow then back to looking almost transparent. It was large almost the size of a dolphin's. Ryou supposed it was suppose to be that large since it had to propel his heavy form across the waters. Ryou wondered how the merman would look in his natural habitat smoothly swimming thru seaweed and reefs.

If what the human said was true then how did he get on land? The storm that he mentioned must have disconnected the link between his father and the ocean making him able to get out of the water. He must have been pushed into the reef then thrown up on shore. Then the human found him and brought him to his home. Bakura wondered what happened back home. His father could cause Atlantis to submerge again with his temper. Maybe his father disowned him? Yeah, right, if only. He was the only kid his father ever had so there was no way he would disown him. What happened to Yami, Seto, and Marik? If he knew his father he probably would exile them for treason. That bastard! He just hoped they were somewhere safe.

Bakura directed his attention back on the human and current situation because if he thought any more about his father he would have to destroy something. The human had his gaze locked on his tail which bobbed up and down which was a habit that he had when thinking. The human looked fascinated by his tail; Bakura could hear the human's heart thumping faster than before when he came in. Bakura smirked, amused, as he started to move his tail sideways. The human's eyes moved with his tail going from side to side. Bakura moved his fin in circles now with the eyes follow its every move. Was it really that fascinating? The human had a dazed look on his face; his eyes were unfocused as he started at his tail. Bakura had started to move his fin higher when the strain from moving his tail ignited pain from his chest. He hissed tightly as he dropped his fin from the air.

Ryou's daydream about merpeople was brought to an end as he heard the merman hiss painfully. He quickly kneeled near the side of the bathtub and said, "Stop moving." The merman did looking somewhat suspiciously at him. "Ok," Ryou tried to say to reassure the merman but as he reached for the bandages that were around his back where it was bleeding slightly he shifted away glaring at Ryou.

Ryou stopped feeling the accusing eyes on him but then moved forward slightly seeing the water start to shade with red. The merman growled and Ryou bit his lip worriedly. He had to do something before the wound totally reopens again. "Umm, I'm sorry," Ryou said nervously wishing that his friends were here to help him. "But if I don't check that it could get infected or reopen." Ryou stared earnestly trying to get the merman to understand that he wouldn't hurt him.

Bakura glared at the human. He didn't need any help from anyone. But the pain was spreading from his chest to his back. Damn, how did he get this beat up? The big eyes stared pleadingly at him. The eyes shined with worry and concern for _him_. He couldn't do anything for his back because for some reason his magic just wasn't working on his damn wound. He felt blood starting to trail down his back into the water. Should he let this human help him? Bakura didn't know if the human meant actual harm to him. Appearances can be deceiving. But that human was just so skinny and small he was sure that one slap from his tail would probably break his neck but it really would be a pity to kill someone this pretty. Hmm, maybe I should let him, Bakura though, after all any false move and I could easily knock him out. But all those myths…could they be true?

Ryou moved forward slowly reaching out to touch the bandages. The merman's head snapped back and he snarled. Ryou gasped and drew back skidding on the wet floor. The merman's sharp canines were bared and his eyes were narrowed dangerously. The sharp nails from his right hand pointed towards Ryou in a warning.

"Keep back," Bakura whispered treacherously jerking his head as he heard a crunching noise towards the outside of the building. He heard several of the thumping noises along with some shouts. His whole body jumped, splashing water on the scared human whose back collided with the door in surprise, when he heard the big creak and a bang. Bakura did what came to him instinctually, no matter how much of the pain came at him he drew his tail back in the containment thing. The water started to shine brightly around him and spheres of the water lifted in the air.

Ryou's eyes widened as he heard the front door bang open and the loud voices of his friends. They widened ever more with fear as the water glowed as did the angry and panicked eyes of the merman. Several marble-sized spheres of the silver water detached from the main body floating in the air. Ryou started to tremble as the merman's eyes narrowed somehow causing the spheres to narrow and froze into icicles in mere nanoseconds, all pointed towards him. Thank goodness that Ryou had a quick mind because he got what was going to happen fast. He yanked the door open, shot out, and closed the door just as the icicles crashed into the closed door where Ryou had been a second before.

Ryou breathed heavily leaning on the door. That was too close. How on earth had the merman made the water glow and attack him? His heart pounded in his ribcage as the terror slowly left him leaving his clothes soaking wet.

"Ryou! We're back!" Malik yelled from the floor below. And Ryou shakily walked out of room and tottered down the stairs too shaken up to notice he was dripping water everywhere. He slowly paced to the kitchen where all the yells and shouts came from.

There were bulging plastic bags on the table leaving no room on the top. Yuugi was valiantly trying to keep all of the food away from Jou who kept trying to sneak some out of the bags while Malik sneakily dashed his hand in a bag behind Yuugi's back.

"Jou, stop that!" Yuugi chided as he started to put away a gallon of milk in the refrigerator. Malik was in the corner with his back to the others apparently eating something if the munching noises said anything.

"But Yuge," Jou said begging with his arms folded and a glare towards Malik. "Not fair! Why does dat thief get ta eat and not me? Not fair I tell ya!"

Yuugi frowned at Jou then looked at Malik who at that same second turned around just put eating whatever he been easting behind his back. Malik gave Yuugi an innocent smile that didn't faze him in the slightest. Yuugi put his hand out and said, "Give it here, Malik, now."

Malik glared at Jou. "Tattletale," he whispered annoyed he got caught. He reluctantly pulled a half-eaten package of cookies from behind his back and gave it to Yuugi.

"Malik," Yuugi sighed as he put the cookies in the pantry. "Those were for Ryou. Isn't bad enough that you and Jou spilled all the cereal boxes and drank half a gallon of orange juice that we didn't even pay for!" Yuugi sighed again at their apologetic faces and just noticed Ryou who was standing off to the side kind of in shock. "Ryou what happened?"

Malik and Jou turned around to face Ryou concerned with the startled tone that Yuugi had spoken with. Ryou stood in the door with a shocked look on his face. His clothes were dripping water on the floor making look like someone tried to drown him. His hair had been dropped from his ponytail and now was stuck to his back and neck.

"Ry, why are ya wet?" Jou walked over with Malik. His honey eyes were filled with worry at the state his friends was in. Malik quickly brought a towel from who-knows-where and wrapped it around Ryou.

"I'm fine," Ryou said softly and brushed some of his hair from his face. "It's just, well..."

"Well wat?" Jou demanded furiously scrubbing Ryou hair dry with the towel not to mention also scrubbing off his scalp in the process.

"Ah! Jou!" Ryou protested weakly trying to swat away the towel scrubbing away his brain cells.

"The merman woke up didn't he?" Malik stated casually his eyes burning into Ryou's prone form. Jou stopped the scrubbing (thank the Gods!) and stared at Ryou while Yuugi almost dropped the cans of tuna he was putting away. Ryou bit his bottom lip in thought. The merman attacked him so maybe he shouldn't tell them but the guy is in the bathtub. Surely they find out anyway, no matter what he told them.

"Um, yeah," Ryou nodded and scratched his arm bashfully. Yuugi's eyes went huge and that's saying something since his eyes were pretty big to begin with.

"Wat happened?" Jou said quickly while Malik shouted, "Is he hot!" Ryou's face lit up at Malik's statement. This was probably the reaction Malik wanted since he smirked pleased at something his devious mind had acknowledged. By the way Ryou disagreed with Malik's question. The merman was not hot…he was a stinking marine sex-god. Ryou 'eep'ed in his mind at that thought especially since said merman had tried to impale his body with frozen floating sticks a few minutes ago.

"How are his wounds?" the always sensible Yuugi comes and (thankfully) saves Ryou from turning into a permanent tomato.

"Didn't get to check them," Ryou said shyly. "Before I could he well, sort of attacked me."

Yuugi, Malik, and Jou gasped. They all rushed forward and started to poke and probe Ryou checking for any wounds or scratches or any form of .

"What did that bastard do to you?" Malik growled angrily.

"Who does he think he is?" Jou shook his head after Yuugi made sure there wasn't a hair out of place on Ryou's head.

"I'm sorry, Ryou! I knew we should have stayed," Yuugi said somewhat illogically his eyes looking extremely worried. "I never knew the merman would do something like that! I thought merpeople were suppose to be really peaceful and tranquil and calm and nice and peaceful and polite and peaceful and serene and PAECEFUL!" Ryou was impressed that Yuugi hadn't passed out from lack of oxygen.

"I think you already said peaceful, like, three times," Malik commented. "Or was it four? Can you repeat it again?"

"Dis is no time ta make Yuugi repeat himself," Jou said looking exasperatedly at Malik who shrugged. "We gotta do somt'ing 'bout dat merman. He attacked Ryou, and by da looks 'o it he got Ry pretty good." Jou shook his head. "We got ta get rid 'o 'im.

"NO," Ryou said protested loudly. His three friends looked at him: Yuugi worriedly, Jou exasperated and a bit curious, and Malik knowingly. "It's not his fault," Ryou said. "He just woke up and I sort of rushed and went to check on him without thinking and I guess he just panicked. And he can't go with all those wounds he just can't. I'll never forgive myself if he dies because of my thoughtlessness."

Another part of the reason is that Ryou got this funny feeling in the pit of his stomach when Jou had talked about getting rid of the merman. But in those few minutes he had been with the merman he barely thought straight and kept blushing. Now, sure Ryou is known for being a shy and careful guy but this has never happened before. Where he is filled with a warm buzz that scrambled his brains into a pile of mush just because the merman had glanced at him with those deep eyes. Where he wants to feel that silver hair just to feel if it's as silky as it looks. Where he wants to touch those beautiful scales and all before he even knows that guy's name. How messed up was he? Answer: a lot.

"Are ya sure?" Jou narrows his eyes. Ryou was sure if he could convince Jou then the other two would be in the bag.

Ryou nodded and smiled softly. "I wouldn't lie to you Jou," he said softly. Thankfully his clothes were getting drier. It's not fun to have your clothes wet especially when they are sticking in places you would prefer them not to be.

Instantly Jou's eyes softened and he sighed as he shook his hair. "Alright, Ry. We'll give 'im another chance. But if he does dat ag'in we'll have ta move 'im out, kay?" Ryou nodded gratefully.

Yuugi shuffled forward and said, "So, do we get to meet him?"

Before Ryou could answer Malik dashed forward and threw his arm around Ryou's towel clad shoulders startling him. "Of course!" Malik exclaimed throwing his fist in the sir. "Let's go!" Yuugi and Jou hesitantly moved forward and disappeared towards the staircase.

Malik detached himself from Ryou and made to follow them when he looked back over his shoulder. "I'm proud of you Ry," Malik said and smirked at Ryou's confused look. "Way to make the first move never would have though you'd have the guts to do that." And he left leaving Ryou as red as a fire hydrant. No, wait, he passed that color a couple of miles back.

* * *

You likey? I hope you do and I am sorry if I actually did update late. Homework is massive, man! I swear the school is out to get me ask my teachers! No, don't do that they'll just expel you or even worse, get DETENTION! OH, the horror! Any way, good-bye my faithful readers. FOR NOW! (I am so on a sugar rush)


	5. Snake of Truce

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: Snake of Truce

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or the characters or the story or the cards or the Millennium Items or the Yamis or the Hikaris or the….. (I think you get the picture)

**Author Notes: **Illusionwolf signing in for another fun-filled chapter! I would like to thank all of those who reviewed, I really appreciated it. (smile) Any requests or ideas that you would happen to have would be greatly cherished. Now (drum roll please!)… Let the show begin! (HOOORRRAAAA)

* * *

Bakura took ragged breathes as the slivers of white-blue ice fell onto the floor creating little chiming noises. He heard soft hesitant footsteps leave the place where they had been dormant for the last seconds towards the yells further down the premises. The soft thumps disappeared lower down seconds later.

Bakura shook his head wearily and let his magic go. His eyes returned to his normal color and the funny-tasting water in his container stopped glowing. Great, look what his paranoia did. He probably terrorized the human witless if the raged breathes he heard were any indication. This was not good. This human may not have had any inclination to harm him but there may be others who would in anger for what he did to one of their own if humans were in anyway alike to the merpeople. Merpeople had always been fiercely loyal and protective of those who have become precious to them like family or friends. Too bad his father lost his respect years ago then they could have avoided this whole fiasco.

He, surprisingly, felt bad at having scared the human away in that manner. He, as much as it pained him to say it, had simply panicked which was a bad thing considering what he could do. He was annoyed with himself, no matter in what situation he was in he was trained to always ignore feelings such as annoyance, panic, or any other feeling that could cause him damage those around him. Naturally, with his temper and attitude, it had always been somewhat of a problem.

He grimaced as blood continued to slide down his back and the gash began to sting. His white seaweed thing was beginning to turn red. Maybe he should have let the human help him. Why won't his magic work? Where is Yami when you need him? That sea star-head was one of the best magic users in the kingdom of Taikai. Surprising isn't it? It almost gave Bakura a heart attack when it was announced. It took a month before Yami's even bigger ego simmered down and that was just because Seto threatened to disembowel his future career if he heard the words "You want me to get that book down for you? After all I am the best magic user in Taikai!" again. And Seto did have a big influence in the Court; it comes at being the High Advisor's stepson.

Bakura sighed as he tried to stop the bleeding by pressing against the cold wall. He wondered what happened to his friends. They may not be much; Yami is stubborn and a deep thinker, Seto is cold and logically run, and Marik is…just plain crazy but they are really all he's got left.

Suddenly the shouts became louder for a second then became softer again. Bakura decided to ignore his stinging back and closed his eyes. He could hear whispers fuzzily under his floor and they seemed to be arguing. He should get as much information as he possibly could.

"Is….hot." Hmm, someone must be talking about him.

"Mer…never….thought…som…and….tran….poli…serene…a….PEACEFUL!" Bakura frowned for a moment then snickered. Someone has issues.

"Di….nah…..self…soming…dat…o….good." Who ever this guy was, he had an accent. A New York or Brooklyn one. Something along those lines.

"NO." If he wasn't mistaken that was the little human's voice. He had a nice voice for a human boy.

"O…course…let….go." And with that there came thumps up to his floor. One set was the almost the same as the fourth's while the first's and third's were heavier. Bakura tensed then forced himself to relax. If his ears were right there were at least four people out there not just one, soft looking human. No literally, the human looked like he had soft skin, hair, eyes, lips…No! Mind out of the squid ink. Not good to go there especially since the human _is _human.

* * *

Jou and Yuugi stopped at the entrance of Ryou's room tensely. Jou looked suspiciously at the door which the merman was now behind. He didn't trust this merman; he almost hurt Ryou with these floating icicles. Why would Ryou still want to keep this merman here? Jou sighed. Ryou is too kind for his own good sometimes.

He glanced at the nervous tri-colored boy beside him. Both of his little buddies were the nicest people he had ever met. He had never had many friends with his mother and sister moving and leaving him with his father. His father wasn't really bad, it's just that he was so much anger at the world, it overflows once in a while and Jou is unfortunately at the other end of the flood. He knows this because he is very similar to his father. He resented the world once and every one in it; he use to be a infamous bully and beat up other kids including Yuugi. He picked on him constantly but one day that all changed. Yuugi helped him when he didn't deserve it and from then on they were firm friends. He later met Ryou and Malik and the four soon became inseparable. And for that he was glad.

So, no one was going to hurt his friends if he had anything to say about it.

Yuugi looked nervously past Jou. Not to get him wrong, oh no, he wasn't scared. Jou, Ryou and Malik would be here with him but from what Ryou described it seemed the merman had some kind psychic power or, as Malik said earlier, ancient magic of the forgotten ones! He was curious but it just seemed so hazardous. Maybe Malik is right, maybe he is a big worry wart. He should stop now but…..

Malik came a few seconds later, his eyes filled with excitement. A real life merman! This is even better than that time when he was at Ishizu's museum and a sarcophagus fell on him, locking him inside for three hours. Of course the mummy was still inside it so that provided ample entertainment. Malik smiled when he remembered how Ishizu shouted at the movers for leaving it there; it was not often you see her blow her top. Anyway, he was hoping to get a good look at him before he starts shooting water at them but he knew his limits. It was sooooo obvious but he wouldn't help until Ryou came for it. It was Malik self-appointed law and so it shall be done!

Ryou came in slowly. He began to wring his hair free of water just to have something to take away his nervousness. Not that it worked. Jou, Malik and Yuugi were at the entrance of his room waiting for him. Ryou steeled himself and he made to the door. Jou's hand on his arm stopped him a foot from the door. He looked back questioningly.

"Maybe I should go first," Jou said grinning bashfully and stepped to the door. Ryou smiled softly and nodded. Jou cautiously put his hand on the door knob then stopped and knocked on the door. His knuckles made sharp tapping noises on the wood that the merman would surely hear. Malik raised an eyebrow.

"Don't wan ta get 'im off guard," Jou explained nodding sagely. Yuugi smothered a giggle while Malik snorted.

"Umm, Jou?" Ryou said hesitantly. "Maybe I should go first? I mean, I really the only one who the merman would recognize."

Jou shook his head sternly. "No way Ry. I'm not letting ya go an' get kabobed by dat lunatic, ya hear me."

"But-" Ryou protested.

Malik waved his hand impatiently. "Who cares? Open the door, Jou. I wana seeeeeee," he whined. It was amusing to see a sixteen year old whine like a preschooler. Most would find it annoying that he did it almost everyday but it was just one of the little things they had to endure as friends. They usually ignored it; well, Jou ignored it, Yuugi tried most of the time to give whatever Malik wanted to him. Jou thinks they're spoiling him too much. But Jou would never complain when it was his turn to get spoiled. Suspicious. Veeerryy suspicious.

Yuugi put his comforting hand on Ryou's shoulder. Ryou nodded reluctantly as Yuugi tied his hair back with a rubbed band he had brought. Ryou smiled his gratitude and received another one in return.

Bakura listened with confusion behind the closed door. The last voice sounded disbelievingly a lot like Marik. He looked at the water in the tub. Damn, it was starting it turn pink. He took a deep breathe and slowly reached behind him fingering his seaweed thing overlooking the strain he was putting on his arm. He didn't need eyes in the back of his head to know that his wound reopened. Why won't his damned magic work? That is why it's there for!

His eyes snapped back to the door as the gold sphere on the door started to turn slowly. Bakura fought the instinct to growl and forced himself to school his face into an expressionless one. He couldn't help but to fist one hand underwater. Calm down, he needed to calm down. There was no more room for another scene like the last one. It might be his undoing.

The door creaked creepily open in the suffocating silence. His fin twitched next to him. The door opened enough to leave a small crack from which he could feel someone was looking at him but it was too dark to tell who. He stared back through the crack daring whoever was staring to come in and face his wrath. The door closed a fraction then completely opened.

Standing there was a human with thick topaz-yellow hair and pretty amber-brown eyes that were narrowed slightly in distrust. Bakura was impressed when the human met his gaze evenly. He couldn't help but to grin showing his fangs. The human twitched but otherwise didn't do anything then he said, "Stop dat. It's creepy."

So, this is the guy with the accent. The human was tall for a sixteen year old but still a few inches under him if he could somehow stand on the tip of his fin. The topaz human's aura had this tough edge around the outside yet further in he could tell it was warm and semi-complete feeling. He frowned; there was something about the aura that still felt off. It was as if it had been whole once then one time it ripped into several pieces but it was slowly pieced together leaving dark gaps.

He decided to overlook it for now and he shrugged. Bad idea. He flinched as the movement ignited a stab of pain up his spine. Topaz frowned and, momentarily, forgot his mistrust as he called back through the door, "Yo, Yuge'. I dink we need ya."

There was some rustling out the door then a head shyly popped into view with a concerned glance. Bakura knew he was staring. The human who rushed into the room without a second glance looked a lot like Yami. He had the same freakish star hairdo except the he had more blonde bangs and it was missing the bangs that shot into his spikes like lightning. This human had the biggest amethyst-purple eyes he had ever seen and one of the kindest auras. He was also short. He was really short, about a foot and a bit shorter than the first human. Was this guy thirteen years old or what?

The amethyst human started towards him and Bakura, unintentionally, tensed. The topaz human saw and stopped the star-headed human with hand. The purple eyed human looked curiously at the blonde one. He glared at Bakura and said to the other boy, "Careful, 'ow do we know we can trust 'im?"

"But Jou," The smaller human said chewing his lower lip. "He needs help." As much as it irked him, Bakura knew the human was right.

Bakura sighed and the humans instantly looked at him. He held his bandaged hands in an act of peace. This was so not him. If Yami ever found out he would never have another peaceful moment but drastic times called for drastic measures.

"Ok," Bakura said and the human jumped in surprise. "Look, I didn't mean to scare away the white haired boy like that."

"Den why did ya do it?" the tall human said frowning as he put his hands on his hips.

"I didn't mean to do it," Bakura said shortly his eyebrow twitching (a lot of things are twitching today it seems).

The blond human crossed his arms. "Ya scared 'im half ta death, jerk." The smaller human looked nervously in between the two.

"I know that," Bakura said irritably tossing his hair over his shoulder. "What? Do you think if you suddenly appeared in Poseidon-knows-where with gashes along your whole body and in the company of another completely different species who would have the advantage of being in their territory that you wouldn't flip out too?"

The blonde human opened his mouth wordlessly then closed it and opened it again. The tri-colored human looked startled then smiled softly. "He's right Jou," he addressed the other. "It's not really his fault."

The blonde human, Jou, sighed but kept his arms crossed. "But dat don't make it any better."

"I know, you-"

"I WANT TO GET IN!"

The shout cut off Bakura's angry retort. There was some shuffling out the door, a creak then a bang. And a blur collided into the back of the Jou human. Both humans crashed to the floor with a yell as the small human squeaked backing away. The disturbance caused Bakura to retreat further into his container growling menacingly in the back of his throat.

"Malik, ya idiot!" Jou barked from his position on the floor. On his back there was another human sitting. And Bakura's eyeballs nearly popped out of his head as his curiosity won over his paranoia and took a look.

What is it? Mermen-and-human-twin-day?

The blur had settled enough to see that he had glorious brown tan skin with long, pale, tourmaline-yellow hair. His eyes which were staring at Bakura with wonder, excitement, and crazed joy were tanzanite-purple surrounded by a layer of black ink making them stand out more. He looked almost exactly like Marik except that instead of looking like an eel electrified his hair, it was hanging down neatly past his shoulders. He also looked a bit saner then Marik. Thank God, for that. The world didn't really need another demented psychopath running loose.

Malik grinned and stood up, carefully making sure he didn't step on the other anymore and presented Jou with an outstretched hand. Jou grabbed it and Malik pulled him to his feet.

Malik laughed. "Sorry." He turned to Bakura who glanced uninterestedly back. "Hi!" he said animatedly. "I'm Malik Ishtar but call me Malik only teachers call me Ishtar and that's when I get into trouble. Anyway, that's Jou but his real name is Katsuya Jounouchi-" he pointed at the Jou human who scowled "-the midget over there is Yuugi Mutou-" he thumped the little human on the back almost toppling him over "-and, and Ryou? RYOU! Come on out!"

A few seconds later the white haired human came out shyly ducking his head, his hair slightly damp in its ponytail. Bakura and the human instantly looked gazes. A cute blush spread across the bridge of his nose and he adverted his eyes. Malik bounded over and put his arm around the white human's shoulder jostling him a bit.

"This," Malik all but declared joyously. "Is Ryou Bakura."

Okay now things are getting weird now. This little human that looks like him has his name for his last name. But Ryou? Yes, yes that fits. In Meridian (the main language of Taikai) Ryou means lullaby while his name, Bakura, means tempest. His name is soft and kind just like him. Great, now he feels even guiltier.

"Umm, hi," Ryou said softly shifting his eyes away. "Again."

Malik grinned and when over to stand by Jou. "So what's you name? Hmmmmm?"

Bakura sighed. It looks like he wasn't getting out of this one. "Bakura."

"Yes?" Ryou squeaked softly.

Bakura rolled his eyes wincing when his back wound really started to sting. Bad. "No," Bakura gritted. "I'm saying that my name is Bakura."

"Hey!" Malik exclaimed worriedly peering over the rim of his container. "Last time I checked the water wasn't suppose to be pink." It was even darker that it was before they came in.

Instantly Yuugi and Ryou started towards Bakura but Jou stopped them once again. Malik was about to protest when Jou shot him a look. Then he said to Bakura, "Look all I wanta know is dat ya won't 'urt ma buddies, all right? Ya almost made Ryou inta Swiss cheese." There was a protective light in his eyes that made Bakura think a little, just a little, higher of him. That and he had no idea what in the seven realms Swiss cheese was suppose to be.

His back was still firmly planted to the wall but that wasn't stopping some of the blood to slide down into the water. He was starting to feel dizzy. Damn, he had no choice. Magic was not working, he had no healing experience, and he was still weakened. He hated this… Damn it to hell!

"Look human," Bakura spat, twisting his tail so he sat on it making him taller than when he was laying in the container, not caring about the blood than was cascading down. With his hands on the rim of the container, it made him very intimidating. "Listen well because I will only say this one time. Got it? It was purely a reaction to defend myself."

Jou glared at him while the other humans glanced nervously at each other, sensing that this wasn't going to end up good. "Yeah? Well, I d'on trust ya. How do I know dat ya won't 'urt ma friends. I don't 'are if yar bleed ta death, if ya so much as touch dem I will make sh'ure dat you will neva live ta see anothar day!" the Jou human growled out.

Bakura almost snorted. Yeah, right. What can this human do to hurt him? If humans are as weak as they look it would be no problem to kill them. One swift punch to the throat of a spear of water via magic straight to the heart would instantly kill them. His vision was getting rally hazy now. Great.

"Jou, he needs help," Ryou said softly but concerned at the blinking merman. He was starting to sway in place. His bandages were now almost soaked with his blood leaving the metal-like smell of blood in the hair. It made his stomach sift queasily.

"He's going to loose more blood and, at this rate, I'm surprised that he's still conscious," Yuugi said oddly stern. "Jou, please? Malik?" he turned his pleading gaze on the Egyptian who winced.

Malik bit his lip uncertainly then he said looking at Jou, "We have to do something Jou. He's dying and do you truly think he could hurt us now, in that state?" His eyes shifted to Ryou who was standing, quivering, as if it took all his will power not to rush to the now dangerously swaying merman. The merman's half-lidded eyes were staring unblinkingly at Ryou. He knew that merpeople could easily kill humans. Merpeople had often been in scriptures and scrolls in Ishizu's museum which he read when he was bored. It wasn't his place to tell his friends what the Bakura should.

He turned to Bakura who was now silently cursing himself for being so weak as he slumped into the container causing twin gasps of concern from Ryou and Yuugi to ascend in the air. The water spilled over the side of the container making a pool of water and blood on the floor. "Give Ryou the Kyroi Heledi." It was the only thing he could think of; he was taking a big risk here.

Even though Bakura was half asleep those word struck his mind forcefully. His head shot up to fix Malik with an incredulous stare, his eyes wide with disbelief. How does a human know about the Kyroi Heledi, one of the most guarded secrets of the underwater kingdom? And how does he know that Bakura can even give them that? He gritted his teeth in thought. He could figure this out later but right now he was fast loosing consciousness. But could he trust a human with something that has only been given to the closest of friends and family of the Royal Family?

"Wat?" Jou blinked. "Wat's dis Kyhoi Hawhatsist?" The other two also looked confused.

But Malik ignored them and met Bakura's heated gaze. "Give it to him and we'll know we can trust you." He pointed to a surprised Ryou. "It's either that or bleed to death."

Bakura managed to chuckle dryly. "Humans are greedy creatures aren't they?" he sighed. He shifted his gaze to Ryou's lively emerald eyes. There were so unique; so bight that they could light up the darkest day and bring joy to the coldest heart of stone. They seemed to smile kindly at everything in this path. He knew that if any human could be trusted, he would be it.

He looked back at Malik. "I hope you know what your getting into," he said sitting as straight as he could. He didn't have much energy left and he would most likely faint after completing the Kyroi Heledi. He knew how to do it, of course. It was one of the first things he had been taught and severely punished if he ever gave it away to someone unworthy it.

"Yes," Malik nodded and stepped back. He grabbed Yuugi's arm and Jou's shirt and dragged them with him to the wall. Jou opened his mouth to protest but Malik cut him off. "Trust me Jou."

Jou thought silently for a second. Malik would never, ever, do anything to hurt one of them so… they've been through so much together it was foolish to mistrust one of them. He closed his eyes. This was going against his instinct. He opened them again at the feel of a small hand on his wrist. Yuugi smiled shakily at him. Yuugi, one of the most trusting people he had ever met. It got him into the most awkward situations.

"Al'right, Malik," he relented shuffling backwards. He fixed Bakura with a warning glare who glared right back.

Ryou stood uncertainly until Bakura gestured tiredly to step forward. He did so carefully, apprehensively until he stood three feet in front of Bakura, the stained water swirling around his feet. He was once again amazed at the developed muscles that outlined Bakura and his elegant tail, slim yet powerful enough to propel him in the water. His webbed hands that finished with sharp nails clasped tighter like he was praying and his dark, dark eyes closed in concentration. Ryou almost forgot to breathe as he looked at Bakura, heart thumping almost painfully in his ribcage.

Bakura could hear the _thump thump thump_ of the human's heart in his ears, unconsciously helping him to focus. At least one good thing that came from his injuries is that he already had blood he needed use. Right now to give the first human in history the Kyroi Heledi.

His eyes suddenly shot open streaming silver light in their depths. Ryou gasped, remembering want happened the first time, and made to take a step back.

"I won't hurt you, Ryou," Bakura's voice was now deeper and huskier made the whole room vibrate. He couldn't stop the soft moan that came out of him when he heard his given name said so profoundly and dark. He stopped walking backwards and gazed at the brown eyes dancing with light. He gasped as the room grew hotter and his face flushed. What was happening? He didn't know why but he trusted him when the merman said he wouldn't hurt him. He just somehow knew that Bakura would never again try and hurt him.

Bakura breathed deeply gazing into Ryou eyes almost forcefully, never blinking. His magic stirred the water, in the container and on the floor, lighting it silver. Ryou gasped as the water under his feet lit up. The lights bounced onto the walls creating images of legendary snakes, people with wings, merfolk, animals in the sweetest dreams and most frightening nightmares, lost forgotten memories. From Bakura's mouth came the voiceless whispers of an ancient language that chanted across the room, eerily echoing in their minds.

The water on the floor shot into different directions like fine lines of ink written by a pen. Before they reached the wall they turned around and slithered back to Ryou. Without a sound they danced around him until only one think beautiful silver strand of water rose from its sisters and brothers. It stretched carefully the beginning of the stream narrowed into a rounded point and dancing in circles around Ryou, who was frozen on the spot with something akin to fear in his heart, never touching him. Then with Bakura's mesmerizing eyes watching, the enchanted stream of water stopped in front of him, the end still connected to the water on the ground. Then the head of the stream moved to face him directly and two red jewel-like eyes appeared and, right under them, it separated into two showing twin fangs made of water. It came to Ryou in a thunderclap.

The silver snake of water flickered its small water tongue and it skimmed his forehead. Right where the tongue touched him began to grow cold then a flash of light above his eyes lighted momentarily. Ryou couldn't move, his eyes seeking comfort in Bakura's magical gaze.

The snake appeared content as it moved forward. It silently encircled his neck, an inch away from actually touching skin, leaving an icy coldness behind. It slowly moved down his right shoulder just like a real snake, silently, deadly. It circled his arm all the way down leaving his arm practically numb with the cold that the snake left behind in its wake. The whispers chanted in his head stronger than ever, going through one ear and wrapping around his brain. The snake made its way through the air and, when it reached his limp hand, turned around. It came back up the air around his arm, its red eyes lethal with some inner knowledge.

Ryou's breathe froze in his lungs as those eyes came closer and closer. He was so cold. The cold spread to his whole body but he forced himself not to move. Bakura told him that he wouldn't hurt him. He wouldn't. The head of the snake stopped at the beginning of his shoulder and its tongue flickered again at his right cheek. A sharp flash alighted for a few moments. The snake flickered for the last time on his throat and that too lit up. Then the snake's head rested on his arm almost burning him with its coldness. Then slowly the rest of its body also settled on his arm in, spiraling down the floor. God, so so cold…

With the sharp crackle the head of the snake turned to ice. He almost screamed from the cold that froze his system. The ice traveled downwards until the whole snake turned to ice. For a few moments nothing happened then, with a sharp snap and a sudden light, the ice surrounding the snake exploded off, littering the floor with icicles. He gasped and closed his eyes fearing that one of the ice slivers might hit him. But when it did not, he opened them again and glanced at his arm. He gasped.

In the shape and size of the water snake now lay a snake of metal. The head lay dormant on his shoulder and wound three times around his arm, coils never touching each other. Twin ruby eyes still shinned at him with glee. The tip of tail of the snake just touched his elbow. It was beautiful; white and still shinning softly from the aftermath of being created. On the head of the snake was an odd symbol. It looked like a three pointed teardrop with a small blue stone the size of his pupil smack dab in the middle. On either side of the head, two needle-like fangs sprouted from the partially open mouth.

The whispers echoed away softly and the light in the water disappeared, gradually seeping away. The pictures on the walls danced until their main source of power vanished. The cold of the room almost instantly was replaced with the warmth that was initially there. Ryou's body returned to its natural temperature but the metal snake was still cold. Not as cold as before but cold enough to be distinguished from his own heat. It was snug on his arm and when he moved it, it seemed to move with him like it was alive. Who knows? Maybe it is.

Bakura smirked jadedly at the astonished humans. The Kyroi Heledi did look pretty good if he did say so himself. He swallowed a tired groan and slumped back down. He felt so heavy. That spell sucked the last of any energy he possessed and sweet relief tugged at him. He chuckled and Ryou looked back at his, his eyes shinning with confusion and amazement

"The Kyroi Heledi," Bakura whispered, smirking, as he let go of this mind. "The Snake of Truce." And that was the last he said before he lost consciousness to the sleeping realm. Hah, how's that father?

* * *

Sorry it took so long. My science fair project sucked all the energy out of me so I had to wait until the weekend before I could update this story. My bad. So, review for me and maybe, I'll update faster. Or at least I'll try, really I hate school


	6. The Escapees

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: The Escapees

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh

**Author Notes:** Hello, hello my pretties! Have you missed me? I should hope so since the only reason I keep writing (other than for my own enjoyment of course) is to keep all you faithful readers satisfied and hopefully not send me hate letters which I know you would send if I stopped. I hope you appreciate what I do. (Sniff) Nah! I'm just kidding y'all! I love you all! Anyway, on another note, thank you all again for your kind reviews. I really appreciate them. I may have another pairing up my sleeve, heehee.

Oh, on a random note, for the Christmas Pageant at my school my class is singing "Come all ye faithful" with our little kindergarten buddies. Such a lame song! At least "Carol of the Bells" last year was way cooler. I just love that song! It had this medieval ring to it and you have to sing it really fast. My cousin almost passed out from singing it. "Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say throw cares away….."

I'm angel 5 in the play! Five, itsutsu, пять, cinq and all those! Yeah, baby! Numero cinco rules!

* * *

Yami cursed for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He looked over the edge of the rock cave, trying to sneak a look while not giving himself away. His hand gripped the outer layer of rock and squeezed until it threatened to crumble in his anxiety.

Just a few twenty feet or so, were a full squadron of royal guards, all fully equipped with spears and lances in a cleared area surrounded by rock formations. A tall, lean merman was yelling orders and the others were obeying so Yami assumed that he was the one in charge and so, he was the one to absolutely not get seen by. Yami was strong in his own right but that guy was obviously a top ranking guard so that meant he would have been at the top of the tanning apprentices. It was better to be safe than sorry, the guy looked like the crafty and sly type. He had on a metal breastplate made of the same lightweight material that all metal objects are made out of. His, of course, was shinier that the others and had the royal crest with it circled twice with gold outlining, meaning he was the second captain of the three captains of the royal guard. He also had a black ring on his left ear that showed the wealth and the status he held. The more jewelry one had, the more money and prestige the individual had; most wore silver jewelry though. This merman, somehow, looked familiar for some reason. If only he knew the guy's name then, maybe, he could pin him down.

"Move it you useless shrimps!" he yelled so loudly it made Yami's ears ring annoyingly. "The king wants those three outlaws in the granite cages by nightfall and if they're not there, so help me, I'll personally peel off all your scales one by one! Slowly and painfully! Now move it!"

The voice was also familiar. A memory flashed briefly across his eyes. A chessboard. He frowned, why would the voice bring up a chessboard? He'll have to deal with this another time.

The guards quickly swam off to do what the black haired Captain said, no one wanting to face his wrath. They fanned out searching west and north of his hideaway, carefully making sure that nothing was left unchecked. Not good, the nearest guards were only a few meters west of his location and his cave wasn't deep or big enough to hide himself better. He knew he was just cornering himself. If they found him, things were going to get ugly. There was no way he was going without a fight.

He mentally ran over whatever options he had left. He could wait here and run the risk of getting trapped if they found him or take the first chance that presented itself and swim for it. He had until nightfall before the nocturnal predators showed up and without any shelter or weapons, he would have trouble fighting them off alone. He had to get to the old western Palace ruins before then too; Seto and Marik were waiting for him there if they managed to get away from their own prosecutors. Then even if they were caught, they stood a better chance at fighting them off together. Of course that doesn't count if the guards chasing them and his were all there. Then they'd had no chance whatsoever, magic or no magic.

He had strong magic, one of the strongest in the kingdom but, as a result, he also had a strong magi signal that would, depending on the action being done, would alert merpeople that they did not want to be caught by. He hated to admit it but, there was a lot that his magic could not do. One was to be discreet. That was more Bakura's thing. He could hide his signal, if he really wanted to do it, from everyone but those within a few feet from him. Seto was really smart, a great memorizer, and an expert trap setter. Marik was fast and could take on scores of guards with brute force alone, his magic mostly used for exploding any object he pleases. Which was often.

Damn it, he though as two guards drifted even closer, if I stay any longer they'll see me. I knew I should have taken the path through the kelp forest. But he didn't because he didn't fancy the idea of being lost in a dark place with endless strings of dancing plants that look exactly alike. It would have confused them but it would have confused him too. Bakura was the only merman he knew who could be thrown into any random part of any of the oceans and would always know exactly where he was, you know, with the connection and all.

It had been a couple of days at the minimum since the throne room collapsed and the market below it was crushed. Thankfully there was no one killed and only a few injured. But the bad part was that the king declared them outlaws, Seto, Marik, and him, so they had to hightail it out of there. They had no choice. They knew exactly what the king was trying to do with this. Since Bakura was the only heir to the throne there was no way the king would disown him or exile him, but someone had to take the blame for the disaster, the whole city wanted to know exactly who did this and for the causers to be punished. Instead of Bakura, they were said to be the causers and outlawed for destroying the throne room, the market, and kidnapping the prince. Conveniently, there was no one else present to the occasion other than Bakura, Seto, Marik, Yami, and the king so there were no other witnesses to prove the king's words were lies. The city was pacified but, still wanted them punished, so they had been on the run ever since trying to find wherever the hell Bakura went.

Yami was separated from the other two about two days ago. They had to split up to avoid detection and agreed to meet at the old western Palace ruins. The ruins were located at middle of a crater and a few hundred years ago, was the main city of Taikai. The merpeople had to evacuate and move because of the whale migrations and the ground. Every year herds of humpback whales had to swim over the city in their route to their migration waters and they would occasionally knock over one of the taller towers or boulders at the edge of the basin and cause it to tumble into the houses, killing some especially when it knocked over the main turret. Another cause was the ground. Before they constructed the city, the crater was an active volcano. At the last eruption, before it went to sleep, it got completely covered with ash and debris creating a very unstable foundation for the city. More than a few buildings sank completely into the ground after a few weeks of being built. So it was not only bad for the people who live in those buildings, it's bad for the economy and treasury. The forgotten city was one of the first places thieves and robbers go, so therefore, one of the last places the guards would go because they think outlaws would naturally avoid those places. Shows how stupid some of them are.

He was probably about one and a quarter hour away at fast swim and two to three hours at a slow one, but even slower if he still had to steer clear of the guards along the way. He really did not want to spend the rest of his days in a cold cage in the Palace dungeon. Didn't sound too comfortable, you know.

Yami warily watched the two guards as they drifted closer, lazily looking around. They probably didn't think he would be around. His red eyes caught a good look at them and rejoiced. They were young and reedy looking, no more than his age. They would be a lot easier to deal with than the other more seasoned guards.

He briefly checked the location of the other guards. They were wandering back to the shouting captain to deliver their reports on the area they were sent to investigate. Good, the shouting will, hopefully, drown out some of the noise. He had to do this quickly and soundlessly. He didn't want to hurt his fellow merpeople but he had a promise to keep. And he was going to keep it.

The two guards were whispering to each other, occasionally glancing at the captain in order to make sure that they weren't seen doing something they shouldn't doing.

"This is a waste of time," the guard with a dull brown tail said, poking his spear into the ground, glaring at the back of the captain. "They're probably long gone by now."

The other one nodded idly. "Yeah, but even if we did catch one of them it would be pretty hard to make him turn himself in. You saw what they did, heck everyone in the city did. If they're that strong we probably don't stand a chance."

Yami felt slightly curious. He wondered what rumors would have circulated since the throne room fell. He pressed himself against the wall and waited, his hands tightened into fists.

"The king was blowing steam, practically," guard one was saying. "And did you see Lady Anzu? She was redder than a Red Drum fish. She was blowing bits at having her marriage put on hold. There were rumors that the prince refused to court Lady Anzu. I don't get why Prince Bakura would refuse to marry such a beautiful mermaid. She had one of the biggest racks in the sea." The two gave each other perverted leers and sniggered, all the while drifting closer to Yami's cave with the help of the underwater currents.

Yami suppressed the urge to vomit at the conversation. He shivered and narrowed his eyes in concentration at the drifting guards. Just a little more…

"Gods," the first guard said who was now tapping his spear against the side of the rock cave, trying to look like he was doing something productive. "I would kill for a girlfriend like that or at least a cute guy that looks like her."

"Well, I don't have to worry about that," the second guard said, smirking superiorly at the other. "I already have a guy and he's as cute as an angel fish."

Come on… A tiny bit more…

"Lucky sod," Guard one said, shaking his head. Yami felt bad for the poor guy who obviously did not know what his boyfriend as doing at this moment.

"Yeah," the second guard laughed, carelessly swaying near the entrance of the cave. "I guess you'll just have to-" There!

Yami shot out of the cave, a streak of furious ruby-red scales. Before the guards could do anything other than blink, Yami's right fist smashed into the jaw of owner of the brown tail, snapping his head back so fast he heard a sharp snapping sound. With a strangled gurgle the guard was thrown back into the sand, raising a cloud of sand that snuffed the merman from view. The spear went sailing over to a patch of sand, sticking point first. Yami's attention snapped back to the other active guard.

"What the-" was all the guard managed to say before Yami was on him. Yami didn't hesitate, knowing that if he did he would lose the rhythm of fighting that he was taught when he was little. If you keep the rhythm, your hits would have the same force behind them and the more smoothness in your movements, the more you will be able to dodge and move.

When Yami moved over to look at the other guard his whole body moved with his eyes. He used the movement to swing his impressive colored tail right into the second guard's chest. He practically heard the guard's chest absorb the blow as the guard was thrust back into the side of the cave. The guard coughed once and he fell into a pile of scales and skin on the seafloor.

Yami heard a rush of bubbles behind him and he shot upwards. The first guard had gotten up and rushed at him, rocketing across the space Yami had been just a few seconds ago. The guard smashed head-first into the side of the cave and, soundless, he fell on top of the unconscious guard.

Yami stared at the two to make sure they were out, his ears alert to his surroundings just in case the others overheard. Yami did his best to make it as silent as possible but, several thumps and yelps had escaped before he could do anything.

"Did you hear that?"

"Over there, I think."

"What are you waiting for? Move it, you guppies!"

Yami cursed foully in his mind. Damn, he didn't think he made that much noise. He looked over at the two unconscious mermen. He had to leave fast but, he had to hide these two or the others would know that he had been here. That was something he could not afford. What could he do? Come on, Yami! Think…

His eyes locked on the sand under the mermen. That's it! He swam over quickly, noticing that the talking guards where getting even closer. He had no time to waste. He swept his dark red fin across the sand, kicking it up on the fallen guards. He used his fin as a scooper, dumping sand as quickly as possible. His heart was beating slightly faster to the mounting panic as the voices drifted even closer. They were about halfway covered when Yami decided to make things go faster. His sharp nails caught the hard rock of the cave and he dragged them down. It would make more noise but, he had to go faster.

Lose chunks of rock floated down on the sand-covered lumps, covering them even more. He clawed as fast as he could, destroying the side of the cave. This would have gone much more rapidly if he could have used his magic but that wasn't an option this late in the game.

Damn it, they were right behind him! He yanked his nails out of the stone and quickly surveyed his work. Thanks to the chunks of rock the tow covered mermen now looked like a big, uneven rock formation and, if they didn't wake up anytime soon, the other guards shouldn't notice them.

Yami wasted no time dashing away now that the evidence of his being there was covered. Badly covered but, covered nevertheless. He swam on the edge of the cave and pressed himself against it, out of the sight of the on coming guards. His breathe came out in ragged but silent puffs. His pointed ears listened for shouts of surprise or shock from the guards. Luckily he heard none, only scarping and shuffling. Then a voice came.

"Hey, captain! Check these claw marks on the rock. They look fresh."

That was his cue to get the hell out of there. He cautiously swam out of the sight of the guards, keeping low to the sandy bottom to avoid making too much turbulence in the water. His tail moved smoothly, up and down. His hands trailed in the water next to his waist. After about a half a mile of swimming, he pushed himself and swam westbound towards the distant crater, hazy in the darkening light.

About an hour later of waving in and out of rock formation, coral, and seaweed, he finally allowed himself to drop his guard. He sighed in relief and hand his hand through his black and red spikes. He was out of the clear for now though he was careless back there. He shouldn't have clawed the rock even though it was the only was to clear his tracks for a little while and buy him some time. There is no other creature in the sea that had sharp enough nails to gouge the outside of a cave other than a merman. Oh well, now for what really is important. Getting to the ruins before nightfall.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye something…blue."

"Water."

"Good one! Ok here's another one. I spy with my little eye something brownish, goldish, yellowish, and a little bit on the re-."

"Sand."

"Here's one that you absolutely can't get! I spy with my little eye something pur-."

"The something that will be turning purple, black, and blue will be you if you don't shut up."

"…Fine…party-pooper…"

Marik pouted as he idly swam around a half-standing pillar. Seto has to ruin all the fun doesn't he? What else is he suppose to do while they wait for Yami to get here? There was nothing to do here! There was just a bunch of shinny stones and-. Oh, shinny!

Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to get rid of the Marik-induced headache. He was seated on a silver stone block covered with ash, his navy fin flicking at the bubbles around him, annoyed. Marik was a few feet away, weaving in and out of the ruins like a bottlenose dolphin, making faces at the broken statues and running him hand across the blocks. Yami better get here soon or so help him…

Miraculously, Marik was the fist one to arrive at the rendezvous location. Seto thought that either Marik would have forgotten where they were suppose to meet or he got distracted by some random jellyfish, never mind that the jellies have already migrated to warmer waters. With Marik you never know. Seto had easily evaded his would-be captors with a well laid trap. Let's just say that they won't be doing any mathematical problems harder that 5+2 anytime soon.

The old Palace was a place of amazing architecture, one of the best that the very best of architects worked on for months on end. Seto had only seen pictures of the old Palace but even in sketches, it was a work of art. Even Seto had to agree. It was just over a hundred feet tall and was as wide as the crater. The Palace back at Taikai didn't even compare to how the old Palace once looked like. Instead of stone or marble, the old Palace was built of blocks of stone that had been magically combined with water and silver. Each block looked like a glass cube made of spun moonlight and sunlight that had moving tendrils of a smoke-like substance inside the confinements. It had taken all the best magicians in the kingdom and the natural energy of the sleeping volcano. It had over a hundred rooms, not including the ballrooms, feast halls, and the dinning halls. Eleven graceful towers and one main turret in the middle that spiraled high into the upper layers of seawater like the spikes of a crown, reflecting light into the city and outlaying area. It stood near the back of the carter, the huge glass windows looking down at the citizens in a city that was almost the duplicate of the current city. On the roofs and edges of the magnificent building there where statues and sculptures of mythical creatures and merpeople (some humans too even if those were only two or three and were near the back) so life-like it seemed that they would just swim off into the multitudes of dazzling light. It was the second home that the merpeople ever had after the Disappearance.

It was the pride and joy of the merpeople and it crushed them when they had to hastily evacuate, literally. One whale had crashed into the main turret. All the magic in the Palace was concentrated in that turret, linking all the stone blocks together so when the turret was knocked over, the whole Palace fell apart. And all that's left of that beautiful work of architecture was the ruins that Seto and Marik where currently in.

Seto's azure gaze swept over the ruins, analyzing every individual block. Seto knew the when the main turret collapsed all that magic had to go somewhere. It spread into the environment around and in the crater. This was one of the reasons Seto suggested this place to meet up. This place gives of the strongest magi block in the whole Pacific Ocean so even if they used magic, there would be no way the Royal Guard would find them if they managed to shake them off. The Royal Guards are idiots anyway. They're only idiots that didn't have enough brains to get a different, more efficient job.

"When is Yami going to get here?" Seto heard Marik's whine from somewhere behind him and carefully looked over his shoulder.

"If I knew I would have dragged him over here by now," Seto answered, annoyed. The clinking of his nails on the stone were the only things that gave away his impatience and that stopped soon after he realized he was doing it.

"What are we going to do when Yami gets here?" Marik said as he came to a stop from his cartwheeling and somersaulting next to a stoic Seto. Marik's pale yellow spikes swayed delicately in the currents and his wine-colored eye searched the horizon for a flash a red. Where was Yami? He looked up as the sky began to get steadily darker as the sun started to descend from it place in the overworld. If Yami didn't get here soon the sharkies and theethies would start to hunt. According to Seto they needed to for a barrier before then. But it baffled Marik why they couldn't just disembowel the sharkies and theethies instead. Marik started to silently giggle in the though of ripping apart giant fishes and eating them.

Seto ignored the silent laughter with ease. Marik did that at least four times a day, five if he feels particularly gleeful that day. It only took a few years to overlook his odd ways.

"We will talk over it when he gets here," he replied shortly.

"But-"

"Shut up."

Marik huffed at him and started swimming again. He has a short attention span. And that didn't mix well with boredom. He shook his wide bangs out of his face with a webbed hand. His tail was a tad shorter than that of a regular merman but his fin was wider that allowed him to propel himself with less energy. His fin and tail were a sharp amethyst shade that faded to a softer light purple near the end with red like a dulled chalcedony at the edges of his fin.

Marik was flicking crust of a statue of a small wyvern when he heard Seto exclaim in aggravation.

"Finally, do you know how late it is?"

Marik turned, confused at who Seto was talking to. Maybe Seto started talking to himself being tired of waiting but it only was weary looking Yami that floated in front of Seto with an urgent look on his face.

Seto immediately zoned in the look on Yami's face said quickly, "What is it?" He knowing something happened, Yami was a composed guy. Hopefully, there weren't any guards behind him.

Yami's chest heaved with the action of sucking as much water and oxygen through his gills behind his pointy ears as he could. He glanced behind his shoulder and the others saw that he was looking at a big, fast moving shape that was heading straight towards them.

Yami breathed out urgently, his upper body doubled over in exhaustion, "Sh..a…shh.a…rr…k."

"What?" Marik blinked.

"Shark, damnit!" Yami snapped, regaining a little breath then losing it again after saying the words.

"What!" Seto threw a glance with narrowed eyes at the rapid shape in the distance then grasped Yami by the arm and propelled both of them as fast as he could towards one of the semi-standing buildings. It would have to do for temporary protection. "Marik!" Seto looked irritated and beyond furious.

Marik took off quickly, knowing what to do. He grabbed Yami's other arm and used his wide fin to give them the extra boost they needed to crash into the building. The water was cooler because of the shade inside and the incoming night as they deposited Yami near the center, who was looking dead tired but determined as he slumped on the floor, trying to remain upright.

"We need a barrier!" Seto said, his head jerking around to locate the shark out of the windows. It was big, a tiny step down from one of the biggest sharks he had seen and being one of the stepsons of the High Advisor, he saw a lot of incidents concerning sharks. But because of the dark he couldn't see what kind. He needed to know so that they didn't accidentally put up a weak barrier that the shark could tear or swim across, then all that work would have had been for nothing and they would be torn into little bitty pieces.

"Yami! What kind?" he shot at Yami, who was now drifting above the floor, having recovered somewhat. He must have had swam long and hard for him to have gotten this beat.

"Galapagos shark," Marik said beating Yami to the punch. He was looking out a window at the rapidly approaching shark. It was only a few feet in the rim of the crater. "Probably around six to eight years old. Dominate male."

"Damn it!" Seto spat out and glared at Yami, who threw a glare of his own. Seto knew that he shouldn't blame Yami, there was no way that a lone merman, no matter how powerful a merman he was, could possibly bring down a shark of that size down but there wasn't time for this! They had to find Bakura and sort this mess out before the guards found them.

The best bet to beat a shark was to get help soon or swim for your life. The Galapagos shark was know for being big, nasty, and, most importantly, fast. It didn't help that it could cut a merperson in half with a single bite and that it had a thick hide. Not a shark to mess with. It lived over near the edge shallow waters and lurked for anything it could swallow or cut apart so it would then swallow it.

The Galapagos shark was around thirteen to fourteen feet long. Its small beady eyes swept the area in search for the big red tuna fish it spotted near the octopus dwelling. Its gray, black, and white hide made it blend in the water with the setting sun and the lack of light. It moved its big tail from side to side, slowly, searchingly as his pointed nose looked for its escaping dinner. Its rows and rows of small razor-sharp teeth glinted in its mouth with the reflection of the stone blocks as it examined the area round it. A flash a violet scales brought its attention to a bunch of stones that were made to look like a cave of some sort. Maybe its red tuna was there. With other delicacies, it seemed like.

Marik softly hissed when he saw that the Galapagos turned and was steadily swimming towards them. It must have seen him.

"It's coming," he warned. Yami and Seto broke off their staring contest and cursed at the same time. They glared at each other again. "Hurry and put on the stupid field. It's getting closer!" And once it got here, thing were going to turn messy and, possibly, bloody. Marik, personally, like it when that happened but even he knew that this wasn't the time.

They would have to settle this later. With one last glare, Yami curved around, his back opposite of Seto and faced the widow Marik was spying the shark out of. Damn shark. Just when things were starting to go good, it had to pop up from nowhere and chase him over three miles underwater. It really came out of nowhere. It was only the shadow that fell over him that alerted him from the shark behind him. Sharks aren't known for being very smart, those would be the dolphins.

"Do it Yami," Seto ordered his eyes following Marik's eyes out the window. He moved until he almost bumped the wall next to the rundown and crumbling window. Yami gritted his teeth at the order but this wasn't the time to argue. With their lives at stake and all.

"Marik how close is it?" Yami said as he folded his hand in front of him, all his fingers except his index fingers crossed with their counterparts from the other hand. He pressed them together, like they were pointing towards the surface and raised his index fingers until the nails were level with the middle of his eyes.

"About thirty feet," Marik estimated, his eyes still tracking the oversized swimming predator.

Seto shook his head and countered, "More like twenty and a half and getting closer."

Just great. "No good," Yami said, concentrating on the points of his nails. "Need more time. Distract." The crimson in his eyes started to swirl around his pupil like bloody mist encompassing a doomed victim in the passing. Then with a burst of light, the red color took on a bright and treacherous gold shine like that of a priceless coin.

Yami's unwavering gaze roughly took on a physical force. His fin tips touched the stone floor and his scales briefly took on a yellow tone before that transferred onto the stone. The floor glowed with golden light and shadowed the faces of the mermen as the luminosity traveled upwards like a curtain being drawn upwards by unseen and slow hands. The water warmed to a tropical temperature that was rarely felt in the Pacific Ocean this time of year or anytime for that matter.

The shark's look immediately took in the sudden lit up of the inside of the stone cave. It opened its mouth with triumph at finding his food. Without another thought, it sped towards them at twice the speed as before looking like an unstoppable torpedo of teeth and hide.

Marik smiled in anticipation at Yami's words. Time to have some old, good fun.

"No blood," Seto muttered, looking at Yami's progress in raising the force field. "It'll only bring other sharks along." That was not an option.

Marik looked a bit down hearted at this but decided to make the best of it. "Sure, Seto. I'll try."

Seto mentally sighed. That didn't sound to promising. He just hoped Marik wouldn't do anything drastic.

He took a careful aim and unleashed two waves of powered magic. The bronze sheen that outlined the waves was a mirror of his own eyes. The arcs of magic crossed each other right before they hit, making a firm cross. The center of the cross hit the shark right on the tip of its nose. It was its most venerable spot. Marik took satisfaction in the roar the shark let loose as it was pushed back a couple of feet, plummeting over its own fin once in a full circle.

The gold water particles stared to spin outwards, the outer edges taking on a spherical shape. The shaky gold spread until it encompassed the most of interior on the small building. Yami stood in the middle as Marik and Seto moved backwards towards him, their gaze never stopped from observing the shark. Their backs melted through the outer layer and swam into dancing and spinning gold liquid that surrounded all of them like half-melted ice in a soothing but fast underwater current.

The shark roared again in anger and humiliation. It shook his head; its bead-like eyes looked seriously pissed off. It straightened itself out and immediately launched another charging attack straight toward the window that the purple salmon had just left. Bubbles flowed from the disturbance the shark left, trailing towards the ocean's surface in little spirals.

Seto, Marik, and Yami watched diligently from the inside of the unstable force field. The shark had picked up speed and was swimming right towards them. The flimsy outer layer of magic started to shift around, still in the small spherical shape as before.

Yami narrowed his vision, pinpointing the exact position of the Galapagos. It had to be timed exactly to get the strongest force behind the field's structure. The shark was now ten feet from the window, its primitive face burning with hunger. His clasped hands were still raised but looser than before, waiting.

"Umm, Yami it's getting closer," Marik said, drifting uneasily but looking confident and a tad crazy. Yami didn't reply or even acknowledge Marik's comment.

The shark was eight feet from the window, foaming dripping from its great jaws.

"Yami?"

Five feet. They could basically feel the dark and clammy aura that the shark dripped off like pieces of invisible skin.

"Yami could you, umm, do it, like, now!"

Hold steady. Yami forced most of his magic into an unseen confined space, pushing on all side until he could barely restrain it. It vibrated inside. Only his training and all the practice he had received allowed him to retain the same amount of pressure and to stop it from melting with the filed at the wrong time.

Three feet. It pasted the window and was inside the building, barely able to squeeze through. They could see every little grotesque detail of the dark hide of the Galapagos shark. They could see its huge shadow gliding on the sand like a creeper of the deepest waves.

"Yami!"

It seemed as if time slowed down for Yami. The shark's rage-filled eyes slowly grew bigger, its gaze disturbed by the misty field. It was so close be could see every tooth in that carnivorous mouth and chunks of red meat from its last victim in between some teeth. Yami could hear his heart rezonansing in his ears. Right before the shark crashed face-first into the field, he released his power as he threw his hands to the sides, each palm facing a side of the field. A beam of magic flowed from the palms into the force field, turning it into a solid red semi-sphere around them. It looked like the human glass tainted red. The Galapagos shark ran into it at the fastest speed any fish his size can get.

But then something weird happened. At the same time Yami strengthened the shield and the shark rammed into it, Yami felt like something very familiar whisper in his ear and a strong shiver has across his spine and chest. His force field rippled as if someone touched it like it was a pond and draped silver paint into it. The silver current of magic melted with his own turning it a darker more rock-like shield of power.

The shark felt as if it had crashed head-first (which it did) into a sharp rock or stone with incredible force. Several of its teeth cracked and a single one floated downwards as it was propelled backwards over a mile out the window into the open water above the crater. Pain and shock filed through its small brain and it turned to its survival instinct. It turned over and swam away, not willing to push its luck anymore with these strange fish. It silently vowed to return and kill these beings that humiliated it.

Yami stood in shock as the outside layer of the silver and red magic started to melt off. Slowly a hole at the top, right above him, started to expand and move to all the dimensions. None of the mermen moved as Yami recalled his magic and all the silver magic bounced back but not before a tendril of it floated like mist in front of them. It rose steadily and, for a single moment, an angular head with two ruby-like red eyes flashed back at them then, as if a sudden current came, it dissipated. The whispers in Yami's ear disappeared as the tendril of magic dissipated like fog and, on instinct more than nothing, he registered the magi signal.

Silence descended on the trio of seventeen year old mermen. Seto was the first one to recollect his wits. He immediately scanned his mind for any references to what may have caused this to happen.

Marik cocked his head and glanced at the others, a look of confusion and interest on his face. That was an interesting turn of events. First Bakura goes missing, second they get branded outlaws, then the shark, and last the silver magic.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I," Yami blinked. "I don't know but it seemed familiar somehow." He frowned. "The silver magic drew up and flashed red. I know that I read about it somewhere or something." The interior of the rundown building was silent now that there was nothing more inside than Yami, Marik, and Seto. "I know I did."

"Retrace your memories then," Seto said, looking sideways at Yami, his eyes slight with questions. He did not like not knowing the answer a question no matter how unimportant it seemed and he wouldn't take a 'no' for the answer.

Yami thought back to his mentor back in Taikai where he probably was archiving the royal library. His mentor had always been strict and firm to make sure Yami memorized the necessary knowledge to become the next Court Magician and Librarian which he now has no way of inheriting the titles in the present situation. He had made Yami read scores of books in weeks and after each book, he was required to summarize the whole book and recite certain pages at random from random reading criteria throughout the oncoming months to his mentor. He was that serious about his job. Yami was certain that he read something about this or his mentor taught him about it. What is it…?

"The silvery magic looked like a worm," Marik commented on an impulse. He used his hands to demonstrate the "worm". He wiggled them like someone was shaking both his hands really fast, like waves. "A red-eyed worm."

"It did not," Seto huffed. "It was more like an _Agkistrodon piscivorus._"

"What? What the hell is an ag-kiss't-rode'em pinch-eve-i-rous?"

"It is _Agkistrodon piscivorus,_ idiot," Seto said irritably, flicking his hair out of his view. "It is the scientific name for a water snake."

Marik frowned, "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"Because I thought that you would have enough brains to figure it out but I think I was mistaken," Seto said, smirking at the violet-finned merman.

"That just mean, Seto," Marik whined, pouting. Mentally though, he was already plotting and planning for his revenge. He will get even!

"Too bad."

"I hate you."

"Sure you do," Seto said offhand, not concerned at all which was a bummer for Marik's plan of revenge.

"I really do!" Marik said triumphantly, thinking that he made his point and Seto would fall into his trap. No one knows what the point was but as far as Marik was concerned he definitely made it.

Seto didn't even bother to reply which ticked off Marik. No one ignores him!

Marik opened his mouth to retaliate as Seto readied himself for the bombardment to stupidness that would pour out but it never happened because at that moment Yami spoke up.

"That's it!" Yami exclaimed as he turned to Seto. He had on a self-satisfied grin and a victorious glint in his eye.

"What's it?" Marik asked while Seto just raised an eyebrow, demanding an explanation.

"What's the only spell that gives off a magi in the physical shape of a snake?" Yami asked, his fangs poking over his grinning lips.

Seto replied immediately, "The Kyroi Heledi of the Royal Family of Atlantis." Even as he said it, he realized the answer and berated himself for not finding it out earlier by himself. To be beaten by Yami of all people.

"Right. And who are the only people we know that has a silver magi signal and the ability to cast the Kyroi Heledi?" Yami said, knowing that Seto already figured it out but continuing anyway.

"Bakura and King Tsuyoi," Marik said, now staring to get the gist of this conversation.

"Right," Yami nodded. Seto swam over to Yami's side and took over the explanation.

"It's either the king or Bakura and I doubt that the king would have time to cast it with the current situation at hand. He would have to direct the guards, the council, and the city while making sure everyone remains in the dark about the truth. With two different searches, one for us and one for Bakura, and the renovation of the throne room along with the normal duties, there's a very slim chance that the king did cast it. And with the fact there's no one to cast it to, even less."

Marik frowned then his eyes brightened. "Then it's Bakura!" He frowned again. "Why would Bakura cast it?"

Yami and Seto looked at each other, both at a loss at how to answer that question. Seto looked back to Marik and said, "We don't know but we're going to find out." He glanced at Yami. "You did find out the direction from which it came right?"

Yami nodded a bit unsure. "I got the general area but the ocean speeded the signal so I couldn't get the exact location."

It would have to do for now. "Which way?"

Yami looked solemnly at him. "The coast."

Seto scowled. Surely Bakura had enough brains not to go to the coast. And worse, Seto hoped that, by all things holy and damned, Bakura did not go _on_ the coast. It wasn't that Bakura didn't know how to take care of himself. No, he knew how to do that perfectly well, it was the fact that he had a fin. Who knows what those filthy humans would do to one of their kind.

"So we're going to the coast," Marik said and Seto sighed and nodded. "That's good. We better get going to get there before the guards."

The guards? Oh, _shit_. The guards! If Yami caught Bakura's magi signal then the guards would have too. And it would only be a matter of time until the king knew and the place was swarmed by guards and Bakura would get caught. They had to get there and warn Bakura before then.

"Let's go," Seto said and motioned with his head to the main exit of the rundown building.

All three mermen swam out of the building. They sent Marik to be a lookout and check to see if the shark was still out there, prowling. Marik reported back that there was no sign of the predator or anything else and they took his word for it. They made it out of the crater with the ruins of the second home of the merpeople shinning light back at them. With Yami in the lead, following expertly the vestiges of Bakura's magi signal, they swam steadily towards the coast line, the Ganter Bay or, as the humans called it, Seal Bay.

Not that they knew of course.

* * *

"Captain! Hey Captain!"

The yells of his subordinates broke Captain Ryuji Otogi out of the waiting for the report of the noise and he zeroed his blazing green eyes on one the oncoming guards. The guard was one of the youngest subordinate under his command and was a bit green around the edges.

"What?" Ryuji said irritably.

"Check these claw marks on the rock. They look fresh," said the guards, quailing a bit under his disapproving gaze, his eyes shifting nervously. Pathetic.

Ryuji raised a thin black eyebrow and said, "Claw marks? Really?" He dared the guard to lie with a stare that could make anyone feel interior and worth less than the dirt under a rock.

The guard gulped and said quietly, "Yes, sir."

Ryuji cupped a hand around his ear and said, "What? What was that?" He didn't wait for the answer as he snapped, "Speak up if you have anything at all to say! Now what was that?"

The guard straightened up and babbled uncontrollably, "Yes sir! Sorry sir! Didn't mean to annoy you sir! I'll punish myself sir! Now if you like. Sir, yes, sir! I-"

"For God's sake, shut up!" Ryuji bellowed as he towered over the shaking guard. Bet he wished now that he never signed up for the Royal Guard. "You'll only speak if you have my permission. Is that understood?"

The guards nodded so fast that his head was in danger of rolling off his shoulders onto the sandy round.

Ryuji narrowed his eyes and he looked directly into the other's eyes. "I said is that understood?" Even the guard's tail was shaking.

"Yes, sir," he squeaked. He was clutching his quivering spear in a clammy hand in a pathetic imitation of a guard's hold on his weapon. The idiot probably couldn't hit something even if it was in less than three feet in front of him yelling, "Hit me!"

"Good." Ryuji leaned back and the guard was visibly relived to have some distance between them. Then he pointed a finger at the guard's chest and sent him tense again. "Now show me these claw marks."

The guard started and glanced around for any kind of support from his fellow guards, all who were looking away with shamed faces and not even glancing in his direction. Nobody wanted to tangle with Captain Ryuji Otogi. He reluctantly nodded and swam stiffly away to a collection of coral and stone formations.

Ryuji took his time in following. His dark jade tail quietly moved from side to side as he crooked a finger at the other guards to follow them and they did. He saw the leading guard's back tense and he smirked. Well, if he's going to humiliate someone then it's even better to have an audience to look on while you do it.

His squad had about twenty mermen ranging from ages sixteen to thirty. He, himself, was only nineteen but he had been number one in the training tests. All of them. He had been promoted from cadet to captain in less than a year after graduating from being his mentor's apprentice which is rarely heard of. It takes most about two to three years to climb one rank but then again, Ryuji is not like most.

Ryuji quickly saw the claw marks on the rock's face and the suspicious pile of rocks under it. He went over there and the guard moved aside to make room, not wanting another row with the captain. Smart chap.

He analyzed the claw marks. He traced one gouge with his fingernail, watching little pieces of rocks fall off and joined the bigger pile. Huh, the idiot was right. These marks are fresh if the way it was still crumbling said anything. They weren't big, only about a foot in length, but they were deep. Whoever did this looked desperate enough to reach past the first two layers of the rock. In this time of season there was no type of animals who had hard and big enough claws to do this so that left one option. Ryuji glanced at the pile of rocks and sand. The sand in the area around it was disturbed and uneven. He reached a decision.

"You two," he said, snapping his fingers at some mermen, who instinctually snapped to attention. "Dig this up."

"Yes, sir," they chimed and broke away from the main body of guards. Under Ryuji's watchful eye looking for any mistake, they dropped their weapons and quickly scooped dirt, sand, and rock from the pile. It was a pretty big pile, about enough to cover a corpse or two; he wouldn't be surprised.

"Captain!" one of them gasped as they uncovered enough of the debris to see a flash of scales underneath.

"Faster!" Ryuji snapped and they did as he ordered, hands shivering.

Ryuji felt white-hot anger as he stared at what laid under the pile. Two unconscious and moronic guards were in a heap with sand and dirt on them making them seem even more pathetic than the actually looked. If memory served him right, which it always did, these were two new recruits that had been with his squad for less than two weeks. And, from now on, they would not be on his squad anymore.

The guard at the bottom had a nose that looked broken and was still dripping blood into the water; a sign that he was alive. The other didn't have any signs of a fight but the only place he could see was the guy's back. The experienced squad members looked on with curiosity and suspicion while the some of the others looked squeamish and, including the guard who found the marks, looked positively horrified obviously thinking they were dead. Greenhorns, Ryuji thought as he looked with disgust at the sight before him.

"Get these out of my sight," he barked and turned his back to the insulting scene. He motioned for three of his experienced guards to go after him as he left the others to follow his orders.

The chosen guards obediently followed him as he arrived to the place he originally started at before the news of the claw marks. He turned to look at them and pointed at one who looked like he had the slightest in build of the three.

"I want you to go to King Tsuyoi and send word that I have the trail of the outlaws and that I need map of the outlying area, sea and land," Ryuji said and the guards nodded, slight confusion in his eyes but turned around started for Taikai. Ryuji waited until he was out of sight to say his next instructions.

"You," he said to the next guard, nodded in acknowledgement to his superior. "Help those idiots clean that mess up and get a magi image of the marks. Also get me the name, rank, and number of the two unconscious fools." The guard went on his way with a "yes sir."

"And you." Ryuji rolled his eyes over to the final guard.

"Yes, sir?" he rattled off to his captain.

"I have a special job for you," Ryuji grinned slyly. "I want you to see an old friend of mine, Pegasus."

The guard paled and his jaw went slack despite his tough training. "Maximillion Pegasus, sir?" There was this weak hope in his voice that he misheard the order.

Ryuji grinned even more widely. "Yes," he purred, enjoying the apprehension and fear that the seasoned guard was displaying. "Go over to see Peggy and tell him that Ryuji asks him for a favor. Tell him that I want the gold book."

"The gold book, sir?" the poor guard asked, obviously dreading going to the location and, at the same time, dreading violating his captain's orders.

"Are you questioning me, cadet?" Ryuji's voice hit a dangerous tone that would be suicide to disobey. "Or are you just deaf?"

"N-no, sir," the guard said, gulping.

"Then why are you still here?" Otogi yelled and the guard took one last hopeful glance that he would say something different then, when Otogi shot him his glare, scurried away to find Maximillion Pegasus, the Ocean Sorcerer. The guard took off to the outskirts of Taikai, next to the Chasm of Salain.

Ryuji was alone as the bubbles from the departing guard settled then glanced at the distant figure of a volcano, his eyes blazing. Memories settled in his mind, one flashing behind the other. Disgust and anger flared inside him, heating the emotions of the memories even further.

"You think I'm stupid don't you," he whispered as if he was talking to someone in front of him. "I won't ever forgive what you did to me, Seto Kaiba. I will find you and make sure that you and your friends suffer they way I did at your actions." His hand fisted briefly then moved it upwards.

His eyes never moved from the volcano as his hand found the black marble earring dangling from his left lobe. He stroked it delicately, like a pet. "You can not hide from me."

"None of you can."

* * *

Ok, that's over. I think this is the longest chapter I've written for this fanficiton. That's like over 9,000 words. I think that's a record. Anyway, we'll see more of Bakura and Ryou in the next chapter. I won't tell you when the mermen and humans will meet but I'll give you a hint…in the next two to three chapters although it may be longer according to the stuff I need to put in.

Please! I need reviews! If not I'll cry and get depressed and sad and I won't be able to write anymore. You don't want that do you? No? Then review and leave me some words!


	7. Treasures Released and Found

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: Treasures Released and Found

**Disclaimer: **I am starting to sound like a bloody parrot! (sigh) I do not own Yugioh. There! You happy now?

**Author Notes: **Alrighty folks, I just want to say I went on and fixed a few things in the last chapters and all so you might want to check that out or not, whatever you like. Happy late Christmas and New Years and all that jazz and stuff. Science Fair is over, thank the Lord! I'm frrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…

Ok ladies and gents, here are the following languages:

"Blah blah blah." Normal, English.

"_Blah blah blah."_ Meridian

On with the show (rolls up curtain dramatically)

* * *

Jou glanced at the refrigerator, trying to decide what he could eat because his stomach wasn't keeping quiet, if you catch his drift. He wrinkled his nose at the spinach, mentally barfing his guts out. Who would eat that pathetic imitation of lettuce that tasted like…he couldn't even describe the taste, it was that bad and he had tasted some pretty bad things in his life. He shoved the plastic bag aside and looked behind it. Cottage cheese, carrot and celery sticks, and other cold foods were arranged orderly at the back of the shelf. He chuckled. It was just like Yuugi to do things like this. He would make some one really happy if he decided to settle down.

His stomach grumbled, demanding to be fed at once. "Shu'dap, I'm doin' da best I can 'ere," Jou muttered and if his stomach actually listened, it showed no sign. If anything it growled louder than before.

Really, they just went shopping two days ago and now there was nothing to chow on! Well, maybe it was because Malik and Jou ate all the good food that they managed to get away from Yuugi and Ryou before they hid the rest from them. He sighed, admitting defeat and grabbed a carrot stick. It wasn't an ideal breakfast but it was than nothing.

He walked over to the table, chewing the end of his carrot. Jou pulled out a chair and sat on it, his elbow on the tabletop with his chin in his hand. The only sounds in the kitchen were his munching that made the room sound even emptier than it was.

It had been about two days since the merman, Bakura, had given the weird armlet snake thingy to Ryou and promptly dropped dead. Well, that's what it looked like and Ryou started hyperventilating but Yuugi had said that had just fainted from blood loss and exhaustion so he clamed down after a while. It looked like whatever Bakura had done, power, hypnosis, telepathy, or whatever the freaky lights were, had taken a toll on the dude. Following Yuugi's instructions, they dragged the merman from the bathtub and drained all the dirty water from it then they filled it up again and gently laid the merman in it after they wrapped him in fresh bandages. The process took several hours and they had to do the whole thing over again twice because Bakura had reopened several wounds and the blood stained the bandages and water and made them, well, unsanitary. According to Yuugi, that would cause an infection or something of the sort so they did their best to avoid that. The wound on the neck was already infected but Yuugi said that it would heal in a matter of days maybe even sooner. Ryou had said that the flesh wounds had been healing unnaturally fast. At least twice the regeneration rate of an average human. Now if only Jou had that power a couple of years ago it would have made his life a lot easier. But the wound on Bakura's back …

He was halfway finished with his carrot stick and his stomach started settling down somewhat. It was so silent… He didn't like the quiet. He was a naturally loud person and all this silence was unnerving him. Ryou was, predictably in his room watching over the once again unconscious merman. Jou still had his doubts on the fish guy but Ryou seemed to genuinely like Bakura and he's known for having an excellent judge of character. Well, he was one of the first people to give him a second chance. Yuugi and Malik also seem to want to help Bakura. He was the only one who was holding back but…it was just that he had a hard time trusting people. It was his past that kept flashing his memories at him. He was a lot better now thanks to his friends but…doesn't matter now anyway. Malik was most likely in the arcade or cannonballing in one of the pools. Yuugi was probably with Ryou to make sure he sleeps and eats or something. Ryou had been watching Bakura for hours on end and was really wearing himself out. That was not healthy, even Jou knew that.

He plopped the last piece of carrot into his mouth and chewed. Even though his friends were in the house he couldn't help but feel somewhat lonely. His mother…his sister, Shizuka…his father…Jou shook his head and got out of the chair, making the legs screech. No use crying over spilt milk even though milk would be nice right about now. Jou hummed in thought then opened the refrigerator door again, ignoring the cold breeze that the action released.

"Dere ya are ya lil' bugger," Jou said triumphantly as he spotted a carton with the picture of a cow on the side on one of the shelves on the side of the door. He grabbed it and closed the refrigerator door with his foot, resulting in a dull thump. He juggled around the thought of drinking straight from the carton but decided on getting a glass instead. He didn't want Ryou to come and lecture him about not spreading germs.

"Ahhh," he sighed satisfied a minute later and settled the now empty glass in the sink for the next person on washing duty to clean up. Ryou's uncle may be rich but he certainly never hired a maid or something of the like to clean up around so they had to do it at Yuugi's insisting. "No´thing like a´ cup o´ milk ta prop'ly wake ya up in da mornin'." He grabbed the carton and moved to put it in the refrigerator.

"Gimme." A tanned hand suddenly came from out of nowhere and snatched the carton from him.

"'Ey!" Jou said, shocked then looked around to see Malik holding the carton and was in the process of opening the spout. "Dat's mine!" He moved forward to snatch the carton back.

Malik grinned and danced from Jou's reach, still opening the carton of milk. "Awww, come on," he said, running around the table, ducking Jou's hands so the only thing they caught was air. The milk inside the carton swirled with the motions and threatened to spill over the edge onto the clean floor. "You were finished with it anyway. I saw you going to the 'fridge."

"Dat's not da point," Jou grunted as he trapped Malik on the other side of the table. His hands were poised to capture the recluse blonde if he tried to escape from either side. His eyes were trained on the carton, determined to get it back. "No one, steals from' me."

"Well, apparently I do," Malik smirked, holding the carton closer to his mouth. He just loved to rile Jou, he actually proved to be a fun means of entertainment. He stuck his tongue out and made as if he was going to lick the spout, giggling mentally.

"Don't ya dare, Malik," Jou warned, his face showing disgust and annoyance. He would never touch that carton again; who knew where that mouth had been.

"I'm going to…," the Egyptian said gleefully, moving his tongue even closer, loving the look on Jou's face.

"Dat's it," Jou growled and tossed himself over the table, sliding on the polished surface on his stomach towards the other without a second thought.

Malik gasped and ducked, throwing himself forward under the table. Milk splashed the floor, coating it with the white substance, and his clothes also got speckled with it. Jou yelped as the force behind his lunge made him topple over the edge and landed face-first on the floor, his legs sticking up in the air, kept upright by the table. Malik peeked over the table on the other side and chuckled loudly at the comic scene Jou made.

Jou growled as he slid from his awkward position onto the floor, his face under his shaggy hair was red with anger and embarrassment. He rubbed his nose where it met with the cold, hard floor amazed he still had it in one piece while he pulled his legs under him in a semi-sitting position. Ohhhh, he was going to butcher Malik! He slowly turned around, still sitting, and faced the laughing sixteen-year-old; the look on his face would overpass that of an axe murderer.

Malik was doubled over in laughter, the carton forgotten in his hand, now empty because it contents were currently on the floor and on his clothes. This was the kind of stuff he lived for. He took a big breath, trying to get his mirth under control, and peeked up from under his platinum blonde bangs. He took one look and promptly turned around, throwing the carton over his shoulder and started running as if his life depended upon it. Which it probably did.

"Malik Ishtar, yar dead meat!"

* * *

"They're at it again," Ryou said, his sigh almost turning into a yawn instantly as he heard several crashing noises and thumps coming randomly from the floor below. Couldn't those two go without fighting for a measly hour? A practically loud crash made him jump. "I hope that wasn't valuable."

"They're fine, I think," Yuugi said, a small frown on his face. His small hands were arranging medicine bottles and bandages in the cabinet under the sink in Ryou's bathroom, resulting in some small clinking noises as some bottles hit against the others. "I mean, they don't hurt each other…much." He carefully pushed a big white gallon to the back.

Ryou gave Yuugi a small smile and looked back at the bathtub. He was currently sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with a little portable radio that Malik let them borrow behind him on the main tank, letting some country music out. Not his favorite kind but it still was pretty good in his books. He wasn't very up to speed on what's the popular music and clothes and stuff but usually his friends helped him. He wasn't very social due to his shy disposition and preferred to stay in his house instead of the mall or other places but his friends sometimes managed to remove him from his shell.

Bakura was about in the same position he was in before he woke up: unconscious, submerged, and totally gorgeous. The dark, dark eyes were hidden under their lids with his slivery eyebrows slanting above them. His dark silver hair was spread out around his head, moving slowly as tiny bubbles moved upwards from his slightly open mouth and from behind his pointed ears. Ryou wondered what was behind there. He reached out hesitantly but stopped himself just before he broke the surface of the water and brought his hand back to his lap. It wouldn't be fair of him to take advantage of Bakura while he was out. He didn't dare do it when Bakura might be angry about it when he woke up.

He sighed softly and, noticing the concerned look Yuugi sent him, smiled reassuringly at the other. The hand on his lap moved again, this time towards the upper shoulder of his other arm. His finger landed on the metal, slightly warmer than it was before. The silver snake was still in the position it was in when it was made, somehow. After a while the Kyroi Heledi had become warmer with the air and his body temperature, thank the Gods. It was as cold as ice and he was sure he wouldn't have been able to take that temperature for long without getting frostbite. Surprisingly it was very light opposed to the natural weight of silver and metal so Ryou concluded that it wasn't made from substances on earth not counting the way it was made. It was like magic. Over the next few days that they had been waiting for Bakura to come to, the armlet had never stopped his arm from any movement or hindered him. It was almost as if it moved with his arm like bendable plastic or something. It was actually very beautiful, the way it was crafted with no seams or cracks and its pure color made it seem like molten silver. Yuugi told him that it looked really good on him and it complemented his pale skin which made Ryou blush a little. He only wondered what it meant.

Malik refused to talk about it. At least not until Bakura woke up so, as he had defiantly stated, he would not have to go and say the exact same thing twice. The suspense drove all of them insane so much that Jou was on the verge of threatening him to lock him in the smallest closet which Ryou scolded him for; it was a low blow since Malik was claustrophobic. When Ryou, trying to get at least something, asked why did he asked Bakura to give it to him, Malik said, "It was the only way to get him to calm down buddy," and gave him a chocolate chip cookie.

Most of Ryou hoped Bakura would wake up soon but another part hoped he would just stay like this unmovable like a glass figurine. It was selfish of him and he knew it but he couldn't help himself. What if Bakura decided he didn't like Ryou and went away? Or hurt him or his friends? Bakura was definitely strong enough to take them down and, Ryou was able to admit to himself, Bakura had scared him. He remembered the way he felt the cold and the way he felt all alone at that time. The pain of the frozen air had only fed his fear more like a fire being stroked and now he had his first doubts. But still, he wanted Bakura to just wake up and open his bottomless eyes. He only knew Bakura for a few days and most of that time he was unconscious but he just felt the almost overwhelming need to care and heal him like a caring mother, and that overrode his fear, for a while at least. And he did not forget that strange pool of heat in his stomach when Bakura said his name in the middle of the… thing. That had left him feeling rightly embarrassed.

He understood Jou's suspicion better now that he had a few of his own doubts. Malik was always reckless and sincere, not caring about what others thought of him. Yuugi was always cheerful and sweet, always believing in the good of others, making him a well-known student and friend. Jou was the strong and dedicated protector of the others, leading them when they were lost and making sure they were never left with insecurities born of other's words and actions. Ryou had always felt like the odd one out. He was shy and unsure of himself. His father was always gone somewhere with his excavations and his mother also had business trips and committee meetings all around the globe especially in the North America and Eurasia continents. He loved them dearly but the way his house felt empty and alone made him a bit anti-social in the beginning of his life and it stuck around with him ever since, especially in times when he was confused with himself and where his life was going. He had no idea what he was going to do later on and what his profession was going to be. His friends were always ready to listen and give advice but they couldn't be there everyday and every time he needed a willing listener, they had lives of their own to lead. He wasn't the only one with a hard background, in fact his looked easy compared Malik's and Jou's. Yuugi had some of his own hardships as well. It was probably that, that helped them stay together; to support each other and comfort when things got rough. It was that common bond that made them as strong friends as they were today.

"Ryou?" Ryou looked over to Yuugi questionably.

"I think it's safe to go down now," Yuugi said smiling softly and standing up, rubbing his knees where he was kneeling earlier.

Ryou cocked an ear. The noises had all stopped meaning either they had gotten exhausted and given up or one managed to pin the other and done whatever revenge they felt the other deserved. One time Jou had managed to cut off a chunk of Malik's hair that left him wearing a hat all week before going to get his hair cut evenly. Malik had gotten his revenge in the end and Jou, well, he never liked cats much before that anyway.

"You think they're okay?" Ryou asked a bit worried. Usually their spats ended a bit later on.

"I think so," Yuugi said, his expression getting a hint more worried as he gnawed on his lower lip. "Let's go and eat. It should be around two by now."

Ryou shook his head and said lowly, "I'll just stay here for a bit longer, thanks."

Yuugi looked sadly at Ryou. He hadn't eaten anything today, he just sat there since he woke up and he didn't even sleep more than three hours. He had bags under his eyes and was constantly yawning but he still sat in his mostly silent vigil over the other. If he kept this up he would end up sick and Yuugi would stop that from happening at any cost. He knew Ryou was always concerned for others but Yuugi felt this was running even deeper if the look in Ryou's eyes was an indication. He felt faint longing and envy but pushed it aside so fast he barely knew what the emotions were.

"Ryou, you have to eat," Yuugi said, laying a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Bakura won't go anywhere and it will do him no good if you aren't in any condition to take care of him. He'll wake up when he does."

Ryou shifted guiltily, noticing the worried look in his friend's eyes. He hated worrying his friends like that. But still he had to look over Bakura. "I'm fine," he said faintly, starting to feel the weariness starting to catch up to him. He stopped himself from rubbing his eyes as that would only give Yuugi the more reason to drag him downstairs. "Really. I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten anything today and the only thing you had yesterday had been that cookie Malik gave you," Yuugi said, looking as weary as Ryou. "Ryou you are going to collapse at this rate. Do you think Bakura will want you to do that to yourself?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know," Ryou said sincerely, tapping the Kyroi Heledi nervously with his nails. "At first he was wary then he attacked me and I know I don't have anything stable in which to trust him but I just want to, you know?"

"Not exactly," Yuugi said a bit confused but then retuned to his efforts in convincing Ryou not to starve himself. "Ryou…Ryou look at me." Ryou dragged his eyes to meet Yuugi's purple pair. "You know better," he said delicately. "I know you do. You're skinny as it is, you don't need to drop another few pounds. You'll just wither away."

"You're skinnier than I am," Ryou mumbled, looking away. In contrast to popular belief, he could be quite stubborn when he wanted to.

"That's not the point!" Yuugi quickly said. His eyes shot a look at the calm water then back at Ryou who seemed to be involuntarily caving. "Ryou, please? Or do I have to call Jou and have him toss you over his shoulder and carry you down?"

Ryou's lips quirked up and he finally smiled. "No, it's okay. You're right, Yuugi." He sighed and carefully got up from his seat as Yuugi stepped back to give him more room. He winced at the cracks his back made from the action. It looks like sitting in that position for about four hours did nothing good for his spinal column. "I was just being stubborn."

Yuugi gave a relived sigh and motioned for Ryou to go out the door. The white haired boy gave one last hesitant look at the merman, his thoughts conflicted then his soft steps echoed out the hall and down the stairs. Ryou had other's best intensions at heart and sometimes forgot about himself completely.

Yuugi carefully shut the cabinet door and checked Bakura's bandages to see if they needed fixing or had to be replaced. They looked fine. When he woke up they would finally be able to move him to one of the pools before they could put him back in the ocean. But Yuugi had a feeling Bakura would only bring more surprises with him and they were in for a rough time. Yuugi hummed to himself and turned off the radio then retreated out the door, leaving a crack open just in case Bakura woke up so he would know that he wasn't trapped. It seemed like that didn't work too well with him last time.

He looked over Ryou's room noticing a few things. Ryou's bed was unmade which was surprising for the British teen, he was usually neat and tidy. Several of Ryou's coveted books were on the floor and most looked like they hadn't been touched since they came here or more like since Bakura arrived unexpectedly. Ryou loved his books to kingdom come. Yuugi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth with worry. If only Bakura knew what he was doing to Ryou.

* * *

He absolutely hated headaches above any other kind of physical wound. The evil little headache imps pierced his brain multiple times with mental spikes and made his head throb so much he could swear his skull had cracks from the pressure. He loathed them and usually made sure it was publicly known, driving those around him so crazy they almost decided to rip his head off to stop the whining. He had that annoying gift. Bakura groaned and moved his head, resulting in another stab of mental pain.

He silted his eyes open the tiniest bit and saw the hazy world lazily swim into view, magnifying his headache. He opened his mouth momentarily and the taste of the foreign water somewhat brought his mind back to the present. This water tasted really weird like it was too…well, diluted or maybe it was just his pain talking. The water of the ocean was thicker than this. He moved backwards a bit as dull pain ran around his veins and nerve endings but he ignored those. Bakura moved so his elbows rested on the floor near his shoulders and pushed himself up through the surface, feeling like wet agley.

He blinked at the room, not recalling how he got there for a second and the light made his pupils contract. He coughed, feeling his throat scratch unpleasantly in the air and moving his arm to grip the edge of the container to helm him level better. His gills fluttered with the dryness around them and then, deciding they had nothing to do out here, the flaps melted seamlessly into his skin. Then the memories came rushing back to the front of his mind like a tsunami, fast, hard, and without mercy. His eyes widened dramatically and his grip tightened, leaving his knuckles white and cracks in the porcelain.

Holy fucking mother of Neptune! What did he do? He gave a human (a human!) the Kyroi Heledi, the most powerful bonding talisman that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Royal Family of the underwater kingdom just to get an overprotective human off his back. He was the most stupid, impulsive, idiot in the seven goddamn seas. He…he… oh Gods, Seto was going to kill him if he ever found out. Hell, he was on the verge of killing himself. He felt like tearing out his hair and his brain along with it.

Cursing himself in twenty different languages, he tossed his head around making his long hair whip around blazing eyes on the brink of releasing magic. Suddenly the wall beneath his grip gave way momentarily, jerking his hand down and, before he could do more than gasp, the entire side of the wall exploded in a shower of white shards. The water rushed out of the opening, finally free, and the force of the rushing water pushed him through the hole, scraping his shoulder on the uneven sides.

Bakura landed with a thump on the wet floor on his wrapped chest almost immediately pounding his head with the aftereffects of magical recoil and a stinging from his back. His tail was moving and thrashing almost on its own with surprise and panic that the scales weren't feeling any water.

"Shit!" he gasped as the cold air hit him through the open crack in the door. So this is what it feels like to have your whole body out of the water huh? I'll stick to water, thank you, Bakura thought, tentatively using his hands to raise his upper body from the wet floor filled with little pieces of grit and white stuff. It took a few tries because his hands kept sliding on the wet floor, resulting in Bakura's face smacking on the floor which did nothing to improve his headache. All his nails, which could pierce through stone, did was to scrape the paint of the square stone thingies.

Great just great. Now what? Well, he could stay in his position until his arms gave out and he crashed painfully into floor again or he could get some help from…the humans. Bakura thought about it for a second then snorted. Yeah, right. He carefully put his chest back on the floor and turned to reach out for the nearest object, the weird driftwood case with little metal handles. He got his finger around one of those little handle things and pulled thinking he could drag himself to the thing and move. But the wood suddenly moved and smacked him on the face, making him release the handle.

"What the-" Bakura growled as the piece of wood swung back silently. There was a red mark on his forehead and he rubbed it angrily. His eyes caught the swinging piece of wood and grabbed it, thinking thoughts of revenge. He pulled it and the whole wood thing groaned then the swinging wood thing snapped off and hit him in the face again.

Bakura snarled and grabbed the thing with both his hands, his nails digging into the wood. "Stupid human thing," he grumbled and threw it across the room where it hit the wall with a clatter.

He tentatively rubbed his temples in a weak attempt to soothe his headache. The gravel from the white containment thing was really digging into his skin even through his bandages. At least, he concluded that the white seaweed wrap was a bandage, he would have to ask. Wait, no he wouldn't lower himself to ask some humans. He has to get out of here soon.

But where do you have to go? a voice in his mind said. Bakura frowned, his eyes closed. The only place he could go was the ocean but that was no good because he would get caught by the Royal Guard eventually and he didn't fancy the idea of looking over his shoulder all the time. There was no doubt in his mind what would happen if they did catch him. His father would do it. There was no doubt in his mind that Tsuyoi would have the guts to do the Nent Kujiku spell and then everything that he fought for would disappear in an instant and would be forced to marry that…sea hag! He shivered even thinking about it. His father had never loved him as much as his mother, that was obvious and he was devastated when she died at least at the beginning. He went on the same if not a bit colder after a month after her death. Even before then, Tsuyoi had never really been a father to Bakura, sticking him in his lessons as soon as he could swim without assistance. Why does his father hate him so much? What in hell did he do to get treated like this? Fuck if he knew.

So…..now what? He didn't have many options and his scales where starting to rub annoyingly against each other. Maybe he could, fuck NO! What was he thinking? There was no way he was doing such a thing in three centuries. No, no, no, no. Wait, what was that?

He had caught a glimmer of light from the wood box thing. He huffed and dragged himself over there in unexplainable on-the-spot curiosity. He grabbed the edge and dragged himself closer, his tail wriggling in an attempt to help him move his heavy body. Where the swinging piece of wood was currently until a few moments ago, was a hole hollowed out like a….cabinet. He mentally slapped himself in his stupidity. Of course it was a cabinet! Just because I'm on land doesn't mean that everything here is different and strange, Bakura reasoned with himself. He looked over at the little metal hinges where the swinging wood (now known as a cabinet door) was and tapped them carefully. They pinged cheerfully.

His gaze was drawn back to what had caught his attention earlier. Inside were a collection of bottles each different sizes and colors. This light from the door crack had most likely reflected from the smooth surfaces. He sniffed the air lightly, getting some weird sharp smelling gases coming faintly from the bottles. Bakura grabbed a small pink bottle entitled 'Pepto Bismol' - what the hell is that? - and tried to uncap it, but the little white lid stubbornly stuck to its place. He twisted it one way then another but nothing he did worked. He finally gave up and sloppily threw it over his shoulder, ignoring the mess around him.

His headache had slightly dissipated and his weariness had all but left as he grew more and more alert to his surroundings. He curled his tail in the air so that the tip of his fin was almost touching his shoulders. The good part was that his tail no longer stung and had no more patches without scales but the air was still not doing it any good. His white and gray scales had grown quickly as they always did. Scales fall off after two or three years in, what merpeople call flaking off and they often fell off scraping against rocks or coral, growing in about four days or less.

Bakura pushed the bottles out of the way and noticed a big white jug at the very back. He blinked then smirked. My, my, why would this be at the very, very back where no one would ever see it? It was obviously something very powerful and dangerous. He grabbed it and pulled it out. Bakura rearranged himself so that he was more or less sitting with the bottle in his lap. He wrinkled his nose slightly. This certainly had a stronger smell than all the other bottles in the cabinet.

Bakura thought momentarily about just putting it back then opened the small little white cap with a quick twist. Instantly the strongest, most foul smell in the seven seas struck his nose with unnerving accuracy and his eyes started watering like a dam had been opened. He gagged and threw the bottle away from him, making it splatter all over the wall opposite to the cabinet. Of course, all the liquid splashed out making the smell even stronger and all over the room like an ominous cloud ready to suffocate an innocent bystander.

"Holy-" Bakura coughed and cupped his hands over his mouth and nose, trying in vain to stem the vile odor. Make it stop for all things holy! It was clogging his senses, making his eyes blur and smart and his skin was tingling all over in a way that Bakura was sure was not good.

There was only one thing to do now whether he liked it or not. The horrible smell. It was everywhere! He sucked in, with difficultly, his pride and inhaled in as much air as his merman lungs could hold.

"HUMAN, GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!"

* * *

Ryou spit his sweetened chamomile tea all over the tabletop, startled beyond his wits. He coughed violently, pounding his chest as some of the tea went the wrong way. His ears were ringing from the yell that came out of nowhere.

Malik fell out of his chair with a bang, his cards falling everywhere, his eyes big with surprise. Jou jumped and bumped into the table also dropping his cards, mixing with the scattered deck. A squeak could be heard from the living room and a clatter of noise. They all wore the same surprised faces.

Ryou gasped. Bakura just yelled. Ryou shot from his seat not caring about the chair which fell with a sharp bang. He ran from the kitchen towards the stairs, his heart pounding in his ears. He took the steps three at a time, a great feat considering his athletic ability. What happen from Bakura to shout? Hey, Bakura was awake! Ryou felt a small smile blossom but it was clouded by worry. He screeched to a stop at the top of the stairs and ran to his room, hearing the stumbles of his friends behind him.

His emerald eyes were drawn to the bathroom door where thumps could be heard coming from the inside, a curious smell in the air. Ryou walked over to the door, stopping in front of it, the silver snake on his arm a reminder the last time he saw Bakura. Did he really want to run that risk again? Jou would he happy to send him away but…

Ryou tentatively knocked on the door and called out in a shaky voice, "B-Bakura?"

Bakura heard the small voice outside the door and wriggled over closer, his skin starting to burn with the vile liquid. He was trying to hold his breathe which merpeople could do for a long time but his gills started flapping again, drawing in the tainted air and making him start to feel sick.

"Ryou, open the damn door!" Bakura coughed, unable to say anything louder with his webbed hands over his mouth and nose.

Ryou waved a bit then grasped the knob as his friends barged in the bedroom door. He steeled himself and -what was that smell? - opened the door. Almost immediately, Bakura, who seemed to have been leaning on the door, crashed out at Ryou's feet, his hands over his mouth and nose. A second later Ryou knew why. A transparent liquid spread out the door and the familiar sharp acidy smell flew out of the room, making him back up and cover his own mouth and nose.

"Wat da?" Jou said as he backed up from the room, bumping into Yuugi and Malik. Bakura was wriggling on the ground at Ryou's feet, his long, slim tail thumping on the floor and wall. His face was panicked and angry.

Yuugi took one whiff of the air and went pale. Oh god, no. The stream coming from the door only confirmed his suspicions. He looked at Bakura on the floor, trying roll or something away from the door and Ryou who was nervously kneeling next to him, looking unsure of what to do exactly.

"Ryou, get him out of here!" Yuugi yelled, starting to panic. Ryou looked up at him a worried and perplexed expression on his face. Yuugi grabbed Jou's and Malik's sleeves tightly, making them look at him. "That's ammonia! It's lethal to fish!"

Ryou gaped and instantly forgot all his doubts. He grabbed one of Bakura's tanned elbows as his hands were currently being used and started to drag the merman to the door. He can't lose Bakura when he just found him! He just can't! Fighting the rising panic he called, "Jou, Malik, he's too heavy!"

Bakura felt himself being dragged across the floor, the scratchy floor burning him as he went on. He was now seeing shapes and colors swimming like a school of agitated angler fish, feeling short of breath. His skin was now burning and itching, his gills feeling painful. He barely registered the hand on his elbow, his hands glued to the lower part of his face but he did register the soft, silken touch on his smoldering skin making the burn dissipate slightly to be replaced with small warm tingles. Then two more pairs of hands also grabbed him, dragging him faster.

Malik and the others managed to drag Bakura out to the big hallway and closed the door to trap most of the ammonia smell inside Ryou's room. They let go of Bakura and he flopped on the floor, finally sensing the despicable aroma was gone and letting his hands drop down to his sides. His tanned chest moved up and down rapidly and heavily, sucking in as much clean air as he could. His skin had started to cool with the fresh air but he still felt sick to his stomach.

"How did he get ammonia?" Malik asked unbelievably, rubbing his shoulder. Moving this guy around was going to cause one of his muscles to break, he jus knew it. Not to get him wrong, he was worried but he was more amused than anything else.

Ryou kneeled again next to Bakura, who was staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes. "Bakura, can you hear me?" Ryou said softly and laid his hand on his forehead, thankfully, not feeling that the other had a fever or something which made Ryou feel slightly relived but the way Bakura wasn't responding made his heart beat faster with alarm. "Bakura? Please say something." His voice had gotten really soft.

Bakura heard a soft angelic voice call faintly across his ammonia-fogged mind. He put more effort into focusing his vision which was full of bright colors dancing and twirling like dolphins. He could barely see the hazy figure above his face but the shiny white around the person made it easy to recognize him even with his intoxicated mind. Ryou. Emerald. Lullaby. Pretty. White. Soft. Rambling. Stop. Now. No. Yes. What?

"_You have the prettiest eyes," _Bakura heard himself say faintly as if he were listening to himself far away. He was mostly putting energy into making his eyes get sharpen and make the world stop floating. He could now see the edges better of Ryou better. _"Like emeralds from the caverns, yes, the caverns with little minnows swimming in circles, round and round and round…" _

All the humans blinked as Bakura open his mouth and spoke. But it wasn't in English or any language they knew for that matter. There were no understandable words because it was connected, like water as if the words flowed into one another creating on long word, twisting and turning into complicated yet somehow simple sounds. It was elegant and just hearing the siren-like voice made them feel like a wave of water had splashed them in the face.

"Wat he sayin'? Jou asked, blinking. Malik just have him a confused look that said he didn't know any more than he did. Malik then steeled himself and opened the door a crack and slipped inside.

"He must have found the ammonia under the sink," Yuugi said, upset with himself for not thinking of that possibility, waving his hand in front of Bakura's face, airing it. "I think he's going to be okay."

"You sure?" Ryou said quietly, moving Bakura's bangs from his eyes which we starting to center now.

"Y-yeah," Yuugi said kind of irresolute. "He's half-fish right? If he only inhaled it, it should wear off in a couple of hours. The best we can do is put him in water so it can be flushed out."

"Did you see what he did in there?" Malik asked, looking impressed and coming back from the bathroom. "He trashed the place. Do you think he can go in the pool now? The tub's out of commission."

"Well, almost all of his injuries are gone," Yuugi said, scratching the back of his head. "But the wound on his back is bothering me. It's not bleeding any more but it refuses to close. It could get infected but for now we should elevate him so the ammonia stops circulating in him."

Ryou had leaned Bakura against his chest; the merman's head was rolling on his shoulder. Ryou bit his lip, worriedly. He shook his hair out of his face and brought his hands under the merman's arms, pushing him up until he was firmly against him. Ryou faintly blushed as their bodies came into close contact.

"Why won't he wake up?" Ryou said looking at Yuugi, the other almost cringing at the big eyes filled with worry and…fear?

"He's probably still high," Malik said, nodding as if to emphasize his point. "If he's like a drunk human then he should be up and about in a few hou-"

"I'm not a human, human!" Bakura coughed unexpectedly. His fuzzy but narrowed eyes glared at Malik, who grinned. Ryou felt a rush of relief almost instantly.

"He's alive!" Malik cheered, triumphantly punching the air with his fists.

Bakura scowled and coughed again into his fist. Oh, he felt as if his insides were ripped out and thrown back in after an eel electrocuted them. His throat felt swollen and his gills burned slightly.

"Bakura?" He heard the melodious voice of Ryou behind him and looked over his shoulder. He was met with Ryou's face less than an inch away from his and it occurred to him that his upper body was against something soft and warm and two pale arms were held loosely around his waist. He was surprised when he felt comfortable in this position.

Bakura mentally snarled and rolled sideways out of Ryou's embrace, feeling slightly disappointed somehow. Ryou gasped and was pushed backwards, landing on his backside. Bakura landed on his chest, wincing slightly and arching his tail in the air again, feeling sore in the raw air.

"'Ey," Jou huffed angrily and moved to help Ryou on his feet. He pulled the small albino up and steadied him, all while glaring at Bakura. "Don' be such a' prick. We're' just trying ta he'lp, ya ungrateful bastard."

"I don't need help especially not from humans," Bakura spat, using his arms to remove his chest from the scratchy floor. "Just-unggh." Bakura groaned. His stomach was not felling good and he needs water now. To top it all, his back was aching again. Why doesn't anything go like it's supposed to go?

"Don't overexert yourself," Yuugi said, somewhat miffed, his eyes growing uncharacteristic shadows. Didn't he know how worried Ryou was about him? He nearly starved himself looking after Bakura. He doesn't deserve that kind of treatment after all the time Ryou spent with him at his side.

Ryou shook a little and grabbed Jou's arm to stay up right. Maybe Yuugi was right. He should have taken better care of himself. He felt Jou's other arm wrap around him in comfort. He looked at Bakura and felt tears grow in his eyes without warning. Why did he feel so hurt and tired?

Bakura noticed the change in the auras of the humans. Malik was standing to the side but his aura seemed to thicken for an instant then thinned to a colder tone. The small human's also changed; the Yami look-alike oozed resentment and anger though in a small amount. Jou glared at him fiercely and that spoke for itself. What did he do now?

A sniff brought his attention to the small albino who had Jou's arm around his shoulders, eyes beginning to tear up. He mentally groaned. He made Ryou cry didn't he? No, that's not possible. What did he do?

Ryou's eyes started to water and he pawed them away, thinking that crying won't do anything. He sniffed from his position behind Jou and gathered his courage, peeking over Jou's strong shoulder. He didn't know why Bakura pushing him away had made him react that strongly. It probably was that the movement startled him. But to the point of crying? That was just crazy.

He found two mahogany eyes looking at him, a making a dusty blush cover his cheeks.

Now that made him feel guilty. He gritted his teeth and glared at the wall. He would not give in – Ryou's bottom lip's trembling-, he would -tears coming- not give in, he would not give- he's crying again- in…

"Stop crying," Bakura gritted, uncomfortable. Inside he was cursing the cuteness of this human and himself to the pits of the abyss for his weakness. If Yami found out about this he would never hear the end if it. "I didn't mean to, um, scare you. So, uhh, be happy." That was lame.

Malik snickered behind his hand as Yuugi visibly relaxed and grinned. Jou eyed him carefully then allowed Ryou to step away from him. Ryou had a cute blush across his cheeks and looked just as shy as he was when Bakura first woke up. He found it unbelievably adorable. He twitched. Since when was that word in his vocabulary?

Ryou smiled and fought the urge to giggle softly at the weird look on Bakura's face. Looks like I found his weakness, he thought playfully. "It's okay," he said softly. "I just overreacted a little."

"You tend to have that issue don't youuuuu?" Malik drawled out and snapped his fingers, getting the attention of all the others including the upside down look Bakura gave him. "Well, we can all just chill out here, all nice and toasty like, talking about our troubled lives and split personalities but maybe we could, you know, save the chit-chat and close the flapping yaps 'till we get the fish in some wetness. Huh? What you think?" He wiggled his eyebrows as if he was the man. Which he is. In his mind.

Jou shrugged and nodded, in a manner that said he didn't care but they should do it anyway (confusing isn't he?). Ryou and Yuugi nodded and scooted back, knowing that they could never carry Bakura even with the both of them. There was no way that their skinny arms and legs could hold that much weight.

Bakura glanced curiously until Malik and Jou walked forward, rolling their sleeves up to their shoulders. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously, scooting backwards away from them.

"We're going to carry you," Malik said matter-of-factly, grinning like a loony.

"NO, you're not," he growled, eyes narrowing at that thought. To be touched by Ryou was one thing but by these two? Not a chance. "You come any closer and I'll bite your hand off."

"Ugg," Jou said, backing off a step but moving forwards again. He held Bakura gaze without much difficultly and stated, "If ya don't 'ave legs, ya'ar goin' ta half'ta drag yarself down da hallway, an' down two lon' flights of stairs. It will be easier fo' ya if ya get off ya high horse."

Bakura had no idea what this 'horse' was but he got the main gist of the meaning. He was going to have to drag himself a long ways before going in this 'pool' he remembered hearing about when he was 'high' as Malik put it.

"I'm fine moving by myself," Bakura said stubbornly. He turned his head away from the humans, his motion swinging the wet locks resulting in tiny water drops splashing on the floor. How was he going to do this? He could roll all the way there but he would look stupid. He could grab handfuls of the treads in the floor and use that do push himself forwards but that would make him look stupid. He could use his magic not counting that he never had the need to float in the sea seeing as he could swim but even if he did try and succeed, he would look stupid. He could inch his way like a sea slug but he would look stupid. Wasn't there anything he could do that didn't end up making him look stupid? He snuck a glance at Ryou. For some reason the last thing he wanted to do was look stupid in front of Ryou.

He bit his bottom lip with a sharp fang and decided to go with the less embarrassing option: dragging time.

Bakura glared at his misfortune and, disregarding the on looking creatures, he reached out and grabbed a handful of the fibers, his nails digging in securely. He flexed his stomach muscles and started wriggling from side to side, moving slowly forward, emphasis on slowly. He twitched as a small burning sensation rubbed against his chest and stomach, steadily growing.

Malik raised an eyebrow at the merman scooting forward, his tail moving from side to side in an attempt to help his progress. Jou struggled not to burst out laughing at the funniest sight he had seen since Malik fell into a vat of vinegar on a school field trip. He felt his face grow red with the effort and turned his face away, his body shaking in silent mirth. Yuugi and Ryou were also affected. They broke out into small, almost quiet giggles.

Thanks to his sensitive hearing, which he has to have if one wanted to survive in the depths, he heard the badly suppressed laughter from the humans meaning he ended up looking stupid after all. He gritted his teeth and inched his way down the hallway. He felt tiny treads itch in between and under his ashen white scales. He could have sworn he felt his pride shriek in pain and anguish.

"I-I-I t-hink he's-s-s going to g-get a carpet b-burn that w-ay," Malik said in between gasps and chuckles.

"I halfta agree wit ya dere," Jou wheezed and, somehow, managed to keep a straight face and said, "Come on buddy, it will be alot easier on ya if we do da carrin'."

"I'm fine," Bakura said, his voice muffled because he currently had a handful of carpet in his mouth. Damn his tail! He could hear Ryou's petite voice giggling faintly and that only worsened his mood.

He had managed to keep what he could of his pride as the neared he neared of the hall, his stomach scratched almost painfully raw. Just a little more, come on Bakura, keep it together, he canted in his mind. But what he really wanted to do was to rip out the human's mouths and feed them to Marik. Oh, yes, that would be good plan, a very good plan.

Eureka! He reached the end of the hallway, panting slightly and his arms muscles taunt. Jou, Malik, Yuugi, and Ryou had followed him carefully, making sure to help him as much as possible without touching which was basically nothing at all.

"Which way?" Bakura said shortly.

Malik just pointed to Bakura's left. Bakura inched his way there and he groaned. It looks like he found the stairs. A long slanted piece of floor pointed downwards with ridges right after each other. If he tried to crawl down this, he would end up at the bottom in a pile of scales and flesh. He would end up looking pathetic and that's even worse than looking stupid.

He glared at the humans, two of which were smirking and two of which were smiling apologetically. "If you know what's good for you, you better not drop me."

"We'll try," Malik said with a gleeful face that reminded Bakura too much like Marik which meant one thing: he could not be trusted.

"Sure," Jou snickered.

Both of them surged forward and carefully took their positions. This was going to be much more awkward than before because, right now, Bakura was more awake and snarling than peacefully asleep.

"You might want to turn around," Malik said cheerfully, knowing that if he grabbed Bakura around that waist in his position, stomach down, he would probably touch somewhere Bakura did not want to be touched. And he valued his hands too much. "And push your head and shoulders up, m'kay?"

Bakura grunted, annoyed and turned around suddenly feeling more venerable in this position. He pulled his elbows in and lifted his chest from the floor. Jou walked around him and stood behind Bakura's head, making feel a little more than paranoid. He felt Jou arms wrapped around his chest and he shrived with barely held disgust. He was letting a human touch him! This was so wrong in so many ways.

Malik moved to where skin met scales and wrapped his arms around it delicately. Bakura twitched violently but restrained from attacking these miserable creatures. He cringed as the Egyptian (what else could he be?) and Jou braced their legs and lifted him up as far as they could, his fin touching the ground easily. He uneasily crossed his arms on his stomach.

"Ya got ta go on a' diet ya know," Jou grunted and motioned with his head to Malik to turn around. Malik nodded and shuffled around with Bakura snarling and fidgeting at every turn. Jou back was to the stairs. "Stop dat or ya'll cause us ta drop ya."

Bakura inwardly seethed but settled down. Suddenly his upper body moved down and he squirmed. He did not like the feeling of having his head aimed downwards at all. He suddenly realized the stupidity of this idea. He actually trusted these humans not to drop him and let him roll to his death? These not but Lullaby on the other hand… Tell me that did not just think that. Bakura furrowed his brows, thinking. Did he really trust Ryou after only a few hours of (consciously) knowing him? That can't be right. But if he was wrong then why did he almost instantly give him the Kyroi Heledi? He acted on his instincts a lot, he knew that but what made him think of Ryou as trustable? This is crazy, he thought. He never trusted somebody because they had a pretty face and even prettier eyes.

It took a lifetime for his friends to gain his trust and they were the only ones who actually worked for it. He had met Yami almost instantly after his birth because Yami's mother had been Umi's best friend so it must have been in the genes or something that made him end up as Bakura's best and first friend. And he knows that he couldn't have found someone better, even if he would never ever tell that to Yami's face.

He had met Seto when Tsuyoi had forced Bakura to attend a Council meeting when he was five. He had been drawn toward the stoic merboy, who stood near Gouzaburou, the High Advisor. He had heard rumors about the merboy from the Atlantic Ocean that the High Advisor had adopted. He had also noticed but, didn't particularly pay attention to the small group of merpeople at the back, one with deep black hair, servants or maids probably. It wasn't often that an important Council member decides adopts a foreign merboy. He never knew how that happened exactly but something happened to Seto's real parents and his little brother. He had only told them little details, not enough to actually pierce together what really happened. Only Seto knew the true story and none of the others had pushed him to tell.

Marik was another foreign merperson. In the same year that he met Seto, Marik had just appeared one day out of the blue and had latched on Bakura's little group. They had been wandering just out of the border, playing with the clown fish fry and sea slugs when a violet blur had attacked the five year old Bakura, driving him into the sand. It had given them quite the scare and they had almost called the guard on him. As far as the council knew, Marik had the build of a merman from the Indian Ocean and they never managed to figure out how he had gotten so far on his own and why he left. Marik told them that his family died and he swam all the way here following a silver and blue water dragon which made most merpeople tag him as crazy. For some reason Seto had argued them into letting Marik get closer. And ever since they had been basically inseparable.

He was brought back out of the past when the human's steps rebounded of the walls and Malik and Jou leveled out his body. They had made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"Almost there," Yuugi chirped and he jogged around them, moving towards the pool door near the office. He pulled it open and looked down another flight of stairs. It was a good thing that the pool water down there hadn't yet been dumped with chlorine. He wasn't sure if the chemical would be good for Bakura, never have studied an actual merman before. The little inner doctor in Yuugi yearned to find out about the mechanics of a merman and how they breathed in water. Did they just inhale the water and extract the oxygen or did they have gills like a fish? He really wanted to find out but decided to ask Bakura when he clamed down. He wasn't even sure that Bakura would grant him permission.

It took a while to get Bakura down the second flight of stairs because this one was narrower than the other not to mention a bit dark since the lights were positioned in the main room, on the ceiling above the giant pool. Yuugi could tell that Bakura's and Jou's patience were really staring to wear thin. Bakura because didn't look like he liked being carried anywhere and Jou because of Bakura's snarls and his fidgeting. Jou had never had much patience especially with "ungrateful bastards" as he called people like Bakura. Bakura was just itching to get away.

Jou was on his last nerve with this merman. He just wanted to get rid of him and make things go back to normal, just the four of them. But the look in Ryou's face when he cared for Bakura and how intently he had been watching over him made Jou hesitate. He hadn't seen a look like that on Ryou's face in years. He just couldn't do that to his friend so, for Ryou's sake, he will tolerate him. At least for as long as he could.

Bakura wanted to be release for grubby human hands NOW. He couldn't see where they were going because they were moving backwards; the back of his head was facing this 'pool'. He could see the distorted reflections from the light on the wall, signifying that there was water and a lot of it somewhere near. He felt the yearning of water; the air was drying his scales and skin, something which had hadn't really felt before.

"Just a few more seconds, Bakura," Ryou said, sensing the uneasiness in him. He was walking carefully next to them.

Bakura let out a shaky breath and tried to relax his muscles but they just wouldn't obey him. The sooner he was in water the sooner he could relax and get off the human cooties.

Jou and Malik were huffing and grunting with the weight. Somehow it felt like Bakura weighted even more than before. They shuffled over to the deep end of the pool, struggling to keep Bakura in the air. When they finally made it to the deep end (about 12 feet deep) they nodded once to each other.

"One," Jou said.

Two," Malik grunted.

"Three," they said in unison and dumped Bakura in the deep end of the Olympic-sized pool.

Bakura gasped at the shock of the cool water but the surprise melted away almost immediately. He was back in his territory, back in his element. He righted himself and started swimming around the pool, loving the feeling of being engulfed in water. This water differed from the ocean water but it gave him back his adrenaline and energy. He felt his magic start spreading around the pool, not changing the water but connecting to it. It wasn't the ocean but it would do for now. It was a good size, he had to admit; enough room to swim and stretch freely. His bandages fell of with the water, curling at the bottom.

Malik, Jou, Yuugi, and Ryou followed the shape underwater that was Bakura swim around the pool. It was amazing. In less that twenty seconds he had already swam all the way around the pool. Ryou couldn't tear away his gaze from the form. Bakura looked so comfortable in the water, so casual in a way Ryou could never be either on water or on land. He envied Bakura a little for that.

After a few laps Bakura decided to do confront the humans. They would want answers and Bakura supposed that he had to give them since he was in their house. But he would only give them the absolute minimum and nothing else. He may have never wanted to be a prince but he would protect his people as much as he could. He looked around on the surface and found the imprecise figures looking down in the water. He flicked his tail and swam towards them, stopping at the wall and shooting out, spraying water all over the place.

They all gasped and backpedaled to get away from the water spray. Bakura smirked and crossed his arms on the edge of the pool, placing his chin in the middle of his arms. He looked at the others, raising an eyebrow.

Ryou's breath caught in his throat at the sight. Bakura was gorgeous. His sliver hair plastered to his face and neck, shadowing his eyes and making them look even darker than before, like they could burn you from the inside out. The water droplets raced tanned down his face, down his chest, to his six-pack, brought down by the pull of gravity. Just looking at him made Ryou feel inferior and measly.

Jou, seeing as Ryou looked hypnotized, decided to ask the first question. "Al'right, Bakura. He 'ave som' questions an' we would like som' answe'rs."

Bakura frowned and looked over Jou. This guy was demanding, a lot like someone he knew (coughSetocough). "I'll tell you what you need and nothing more, got that," Bakura said austerely, shifting his arms to get in a better position.

"Yeah," Jou sighed, optioning for the best. "Right, da first ding I wanta know is wat is dis." He reached over and flicked the Kyroi Heledi on Ryou's arms. Ryou glanced down at it then looked back at Bakura.

"Why don't you ask blondie over there?" Bakura said, eyes narrowing at said blonde. "He was the one who knew about it."

Jou, Yuugi and Ryou also looked at Malik, who shifted a bit guiltily. "Umm," he said, twirling a piece of his hair around a finger. "Well, I um, you see, I uhhh-"

"Spit it out," Bakura growled, his nerves shot.

"I will if you tell us about the freaky lightshow," Malik shot back, lifting his chin in an act of defiance. Bakura did not look happy at that.

Bakura snarled dangerously. Who did this human think he is ordering him around? He was fighting the urge to "show" this human up close and personal his magic. His fingers twitched.

Malik saw this and blanched. He put out his hands. "Alright, alright. Chillax," he breathed and thought a bit, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Okay here it goes. You know I have a sister right? Well, you don't but they do. Her name is Ishizu and she owns a museum back where we live. It has everything, mummies, fossils, dinosaurs, and other creepy old stuff. I was checking out the basement one day and found a pair of tablets months ago. I asked and Ishizu said they came in years ago and were called the Tablets of Saikigo. It wasn't in any language translators knew so they gave up but they managed to translate one part thanks to a drawing. Kyroi Heledi."

Bakura stared at him in disbelief. "So, you decided what the heck. I read about this thing so I'll ask the merman to give it to my friend," Bakura ground out, drilling holes at Malik. "Without knowing what it does. Without knowing what it could possibly do?" Oh, God, he just couldn't believe this.

"Umm, yes basically," Malik blinked in confusion.

"You idiot!" Bakura yelled, his tail trashing in the water. "You brainless incompetent fool! You have no idea of what could happen."

"What did he do?" Ryou asked, his voice trembling. He looked at the snake on his arm. Was it dangerous? Would it kill him? Just thinking in the possibilities made his heart race in fear and panic. He gazed at Bakura, begging that it wouldn't be anything bad but judging by his reaction he somehow doubted it.

"Is it dangerous?" Yuugi breathed, overrun by concern for his friend. Jou was two seconds away from pounding Malik into the ground.

"In a way," Bakura said, counting to ten in German in his mind. How does he explain this? "Okay listen up, that's the Kyroi Heledi as I said before. The Snake of Truce. It's a powerful bonding talisman used to signify the trust."

"Bonding?" Yuugi said, tilting his head.

"Yeah. Usually it connects two merpeople by their auras or their magi signals," Bakura explained. "It allows other merpeople to acknowledge their role as a trusted servant of the Roya, um, the giver. It's created by blood and energy of the giver and three things from the taker." He stopped a bit to collect his thoughts. He almost said Royal Family but managed to catch himself. That's more than they needed to know. "Thought, breath, and spirit."

"What's so dangerous about it?" Jou asked.

Bakura shrugged. "Nothing more than the acknowledgement, the taker being able to locate the giver for a twenty mile radius, and the odd transfer of magic to the other but since Ryou is a human I'm not sure of what could happen. There could be some side effects."

"Which kinds of side effects?" Ryou asked, trying not to sound as scared as he felt. Would he grow wings or something?

Bakura shook his head, feeling sorry for the kid. How could that idiot have convinced him to do that? He should have known better. "Don't know, kid. You're the first human to receive the Kyroi Heledi in the history of Taikai."

"Taikai?" Yuugi said, scooting closer to Bakura now that he seemed to clamed down a bit. He sat down on the cold floor. Who knows for how long they will be here talking so he might as well make himself comfortable.

The others decided to follow Yuugi's example and also sat down. Jou reclined his back against the wall next to Malik and Ryou.

What part of I'm only going to give them the minimum amount of information did he not get? Curse his big mouth. "Taikai is the underwater kingdom of the Pacific Ocean," Bakura said shortly.

"Really?" Yuugi said, leaning forwards, momentarily forgetting his apprehension. "So there's a kingdom in every of the four oceans of the world?"

"Yes, midget," Bakura sighed. "But Taikai is the biggest kingdom of all the four. The other three kingdoms look towards Taikai as the main haven for merpeople."

Yuugi pouted at the reference to his height. It's wasn't his fault he was short. "But the Atlantic Ocean is the biggest ocean," Yuugi said. "Shouldn't that have the biggest kingdom?"

"Logically I suppose that's true," Bakura said, moving the wet tresses from his face. "But logic doesn't always count. It was the biggest and main kingdom years before the Disappearance."

"What's the Disappearance?" Malik asked, drawn in by the conversation. This was way better than some old dusty tablet.

"No one really knows," Bakura said, shrugging. "It's the reason Atlantis disappeared taking all its inhabitants with it including the buildings and everything else. No one was able to record what happened because they were vanished along with the city. All we know is that it was once the main center of Meridian life before it vanished one day without any explainable reason."

"Atlantis existed?" Jou asked skeptically.

"Yes, human," Bakura huffed, rolling his eyes. "That's where merpeople originated. Did you humans think of it as myth?"

"Well, excuse meh," Jou said, resting his head against the wall.

"Can I somehow take it off?" Ryou said softly, smiling shyly. He tapped nervously on the Kyroi Heledi. It made him uneasy having the snake on his arm, not knowing what could happen to him because of it.

Bakura eyed Ryou. He probably didn't know that by saying that he just significantly insulted Bakura. "Yes but it wouldn't matter much," Bakura said, kind of peeved. "That's just a symbol. The bond was already created and probably won't wear off for years. It's would be useless to take off."

"Oh," Ryou said, looking down. Bakura looked sort of annoyed. Did he say something wrong?

Bakura sighed. Ryou was just too damn cute for his own good. "I can take it off if you want," Bakura said, trying to go for the casual look.

Ryou looked up, a smile adoring his face. "Really?" he said and, when Bakura nodded stiffly, crawled forward.

Bakura stared stonily at Ryou, making shy away nervously but hesitantly offered Bakura his left arm while his friends watched on carefully. Bakura had a sour expression on his face making Ryou think he had said or did something wrong. Bakura uncrossed his arms and grasped Ryou arm with a hard, callused hand. Ryou flushed briefly but thankfully Bakura ignored it. Instead he was looking at the motionless snake resentfully. He used his other hand to press a finger on the back of its head, right on the three pointed teardrop. Bakura closed his eyes and the teardrop swam with luminosity. A hiss sounded from the action and Ryou almost swore that the snake looked at him disappointedly. The hunk of metal moved flawlessly like a real snake, its coils growing and releasing its hold on Ryou's arm.

Bakura swam away from Ryou, silent. Ryou grabbed the snake and cautiously moved the coils of the snake down his arm and off completely. It retained its shape, like a spring. It still felt weightless.

"Thank you," Ryou said at Bakura, relived.

Bakura only gave him a grunt and looked instead at Malik. "Can you somehow get me the Tablets of Saikigo?" Bakura was curious about how a bunch of humans got a tablet that depicted the Kyroi Heledi.

Malik hesitated. "Maybe. It got removed a couple of months ago to another museum but I could give a call to Ishizu to she if she knows anything."

"Can send a messenger right now?" Bakura asked.

"We don' got messengers, fish-boy," Jou said grinning. "We got telephones now dese days."

"Telephones?" Bakura said baffled. "What the hell are those?"

"We'll tell you later," Yuugi said, kindly, giving a look to the others who shut up knowing that look all too well especially Malik. "I think we should let you rest for a while. And you haven't eaten for days. What would you like?"

"Hmm," Bakura said thoughtfully. "I could go for some tuna or squid right about now. It best fresh around this time."

"Ummm," Yuugi said uncertainly while Malik blanched at the thought of raw seafood. "I don't think we have that in the house. It could be a while before we find that and I'm sure you're hungry."

Bakura exhaled noisily and said, "Listen little human, I can go for months without food but any kind of fish would be fine expect salmon. I hate that."

"I think we can find something," Yuugi nodded and sat up, bowing to Bakura once he was up. "We'll be down with something later."

Bakura daintily waved in sarcasm and dove back into the water, disappearing into the blue like a phantom. Jou and Malik noisily stood up and walked out the door, talking and roughing around with each other. Ryou stood up slower than the others, looking at the water with a remorseful expression and cradling the Kyroi Heledi in his arms. He eventually started walking out the door after the others. Yuugi waited until Ryou caught up him and walked up the stairs together after closing the door behind them.

"Hey he never told us about the lights!" Malik realized and made to go back but Jou grabbed his arm, dragging him upstairs say, "Next time, buddy, I don' wana see dat guy fo' a while yet."

"I'm sure he was just tired, Ryou," Yuugi said as he laid his hand on Ryou shoulder, trying to comfort the other teen. "He'll be better next time you visit him, I'm sure."

"Hopefully, Yuugi," Ryou said, somewhat sadly looking at the snake in his arms. "Hopefully."

* * *

A single tooth stood against the sand amid ancient stones and ruins. It was resting there so innocently when it was the proof he needed to track those scumbags down. Just the thing he need.

Ryuji smirked and reached down. He scooped up the shark tooth along with some sand that he shook off his palm. He was lucky to have found this thing in the mess around him. The setting sun had hindered things even more than before. Shadows had grown and waved with the motion of the sea. His guard squad had missed it in the first search at noon because they were idiots and brainless fools. The thing had been in plain sight and they missed it.

He had been granted permission by the commander to do a second search after the first one had done nothing. Those Council idiots actually thought he was only tracking them down. They had no idea what was actually going on and it amused him that these were the guys running Taikai. At least the prince had been smart enough to escape before he ended up like those fat geezers. And it also gave him the opportunity to execute his plan without any suspicion. He only needed to find those four things…

Ryuji glanced down at the tooth. It was a big one obviously from a shore shark due to the blunt ridges along the sides. But what was more important was the residue magic that covered it thickly. He closed his eyes and palmed the tooth with both hands. He could sense eastern and western magic on it. The western magic was probably from an inhabitant of Taikai and it was powerful but it was mixed confusedly as if it was magic from two different merpeople. The eastern magic was more difficult to define since it wasn't as strong in presence but it did give him a better clue. Around theses parts there was only one person known for having eastern magic and that was Marik, one of the outlaws. He was on the right track and using this he could probably find the direction they went in.

"Move back, guards!" he said loudly at the mermen from his squad who were combing around the place. They glanced up and immediately left whatever they were looking at. "There's nothing here to see. Go back to the barracks." They saluted at their captain and swam off back to Taikai, most looking thankful to do so.

Ryuji placed the tooth in the pouch he had around his waist that contained several essential items like the maps that he had been given yesterday. He smirked in satisfaction at what he found today. It was all going fine. But that idiot that he sent to Pegasus had come back empty handed, shaking with fear and dread and bring back a message.

"Now, now Otogi-boy you know the rules. If you want it you're going to have to give little old me a cozy little visit. Oh, and you might want to wipe the memory from his poor little soul, he was quite fun. Later dearie."

Ryuji was planning on blasting away the memory of the guard anyway even if he returned with the book or not. He wasn't even sure he would come back alive but it looked like he was proven wrong. He erased the memory of the guard so that he had no idea of what happened in the last couple of days. And he kicked him off the Royal Guard too. It was actually quite fun because of the look on the guy's face, not knowing what he did to get kicked off. Now he had to go visit Pegasus instead. He disliked that place and that mad old coot with a passion; there was a reason he was exiled. But he needed that book damnit! He would have to take a day off soon and go to the Chasm of Salain. Ryuji could probably get Keith or Vivian to cover for him easily with the dirt he has on them. The Council wouldn't have any reason to complain otherwise.

That book had everything he needed. The inscriptions, the incantations and rituals, and most importantly, the legend and the descriptions. It was the centerpiece of his plan and he was going to get that damned book even if he had make some people disappear along the way.

Ryuji looked around one more time, alone as all the guards went back to the barracks. His eyes scanned the sand and ruins for anything else, as small and insignificant as it seemed, that might just give him another clue. The inside of a ruined building near by had the remains of gold magic and the drippings of gold magic in a rough circle at the center.

He deduced that they had met here and a shark had attacked them. They had put up a shield and attacked the creature. Sharks are usually in their mating grounds at this time, quite a bit north from here. It could have been a straggler on its way to the mating grounds as most merpeople at the Council agreed but Ryuji i knew better. He grinned with the secret knowledge. History is going to show what really happened and his revenge will be complete.

Ryuji's chest rumbled with quiet laughter. Everything was going according to plan. Now all he has to do is wait. Wait and watch as they all fall, one by one, leading him to get those four crucial things.

Ryuji swam away, emotionlessly, keeping his triumph hidden inside. It would not do if his squad saw it and reported it the Council; they were all backstabbers. He knew he was not popular among the ranks; he was cruel and harsh, known for destroying more lives than any other this side of the century inside the Royal Guard but so invisible to the outside, just like he wanted. The thing that kept him in his position no matter what he did was the simple fact that he was the best they had and they could not afford to let him go. Not to mention more than half of that pathetic Council feared him. He tapped his breastplate bitterly. He hated that thing, so cold, so resentful, reminding him of what he was here to do. He never wanted to be a captain but his position was ideal for his plans. So he would have to bear it a while longer.

He swam slowly towards in the general direction of the great gates of Taikai, inwardly seething. How he hated those gates. He sighed shakily. It didn't matter now, it was in the past and it would strengthen him for what would happen in the near future. Oh, yes, the oh so near future. He quickly suppressed his excitement. He could not afford to mess up in this; failure was not an option at this point.

The merman patted his pouch once to make sure the tooth was still there. Once he was assured, he looked back over at the crater, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth once. He didn't actually think he would find anything there. Kaiba was sure to have cleaned their tracks. It was a great stroke of luck that he missed this little trinket. Not as intelligent as they say are you, Ryuji mused. If only they had seen that years ago. But he was sure that Kaiba had an important role in the book and it was an extra bonus in his plans.

He remembered all those years ago. How many years now? About twelve years if he recalled correctly. Twelve hard, lonely years in a place that he was forced to live in. But no worries, no worries at all. Soon, no one would suffer as he did and he would go down in history, finally getting what he rightfully deserves. Kaiba probably doesn't even remember him but that would be a good thing at this moment. It would hit him that much harder when all was reveal and he finds out it was his fault, his and that little band of friends. He loathed that word. Friends. Friends are only shackles that stopped a person from achieving greatness. He would destroy everything.

He only had to visit that perverted weird, old coot to do that. The things I have to do for revenge, Ryuji thought moodily as he swam on.

* * *

Hello again. How are you? So yeah, this chapter is a bit strange and long but you dig it right? Hey! My birthday is on Friday! Huh, what a coincidence that I update this week. Please review for me. It's like a present for me. I'll love you all if you do that for me! Thank you for your generosity.

Power to the children safety caps!


	8. Solace of Sorts

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: Solace of Sorts

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh

**Author Notes: **Hi! Now a lot of people (namely two) have been asking me about when the mermen would meet the humans. Well, my little impatient ones, it will be soon very soon, it might be this chapter or it might be the next. Who knows?... I know! Hahahaha. But I won't tell. I love to torture people. I guess the only way you'll figure it out is to keep on reading.

"Blah, blah, blah," English

"_Blah, blah, blah," _Meridian

Thanks for the reviews guys! I had fourteen this time! A new record!

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It was staring at him. Its little beady red eyes were staring accusingly at him from the counter. It was resting on its side, looking weird from the curly form it was in but it still somehow managed to look right at him.

Ryou bit his lip and dipped his head down, creating a curtain of white hair between him and the eyes. He looked down at the food in his hands, cringing a little at the slimy raw fish in his hands. It felt like really wet plastic to him and it squelched every time he touched it. How can Bakura stand to eat this stuff? He felt a shiver race up his spine. He touched it again and it jiggled.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Yuugi said, looking cheerful and amused as he regarded Ryou and his expression. Then he frowned a bit, Ryou's face was taking on a slightly green look. The little doctor inside him demanded for him to take action. "I can take that if you want."

"No, I'm fine," Ryou smiled, inwardly screaming "This is sooo gross!" and cringing, scolding the side of him that wanted to be the one to give Bakura his food. "Um, what is this again?"

"Well, the package said it was trout but I doubt trout is suppose to be that color," Yuugi said, chucking a bit. "Malik just grabbed the first thing he saw. I don't know why we let him do the shopping."

"Well, it could be the fact he shot out the door and yelled, 'I go get fish' in less than five seconds," Ryou said dryly then laughed, tucking his longish hair behind his ear. Yuugi smiled and also laughed, their voices echoing merrily. Ryou loved times like these when he could just laugh without hearing it echo all on its own.

"Yeah," Yuugi said, grinning then rolled his shoulders. "I'm going to take a shower now, alright?"

"Sure," Ryou nodded and picked up the plate of sliced trout, the fishy smell tickling his nose. "You think this will be enough?" he asked suddenly worried that the trout wouldn't fill Bakura. How much did mermen eat anyway? Ryou imagined that it would make an awkward conversation.

Yuugi shot him a helpless look. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure," he murmured thoughtfully. "But it should be enough."

Ryou sighed. It would have to do since they were running a bit short of money. His uncle had a bank account in the town but he didn't give Ryou permission to withdraw directly instead the bank sent over an adequate amount of money every three days since Ryou's uncle was such a nice man. He had always known his uncle since he was little but he wasn't as prominent as his parents but more as a relative in the background, occasionally having an outing with him every year or so. Nothing much to make him Ryou's favorite relative but more of a good but hazy memory. Not that he had much to compare by either. Most of his blood relatives lived over in Great Britain and they disapproved of his parents' wishes to move over here and viewed it as a way to detach themselves from their righteous family so they decided that if his family wanted to go away then they would do it by themselves. So Ryou never got to see much of them these days. It would have been nice…

"Ryou?" Yuugi asked, concerned as a glazed look entered his friend's eyes.

"Umm?" Ryou blinked then smiled sheepishly, still holding the plate in pale hands. "Sorry, well, I'll go and give Bakura this now." He motioned to the plate and Yuugi nodded, stepping out of the room probably to get that shower he wanted. Ryou didn't blame him, after all, who wanted to smell like raw fish? Let him correct that, what human would like to smell like raw fish?

His steps hesitated as he caught sight of the Kyroi Heledi that still sitting on the counter. He remembered the stony look in Bakura's eyes last time they saw each other. That had been yesterday and Ryou hadn't gotten the courage to see him again ever since. He knew that Bakura needed time to focus himself and find a way to get back home and heal. Yuugi certainly would never let him go until he was fully recovered. Why hadn't the nasty wound on his back healed yet? He had an incredible healing rate but it didn't look as if it was going to close anytime soon. But what made Bakura so cold all of a sudden? Maybe it was the realization of being in a human household finally sinking in. Ryou knew that he was still feeling dazed of finding a supposedly nonexistent merman. What would it feel to be surrounded by a totally different species? Personally, Ryou would have felt absolutely terrified. But he was sure Bakura was made of tougher stuff than he was. It had somewhat ashamed him of how weak he was, physically and mentally. Yesterday was only proof of that. Who cries because they were pushed away? Apparently he does.

Would Bakura still be angry with him? He only started acting indifferent after Ryou got…the Kyroi Heledi taken off. Did that somehow make Bakura angry? Did he do something wrong? Ryou thought for a minute then walked to the counter and, precariously balancing the plate with one arm, scooped up the snake into his free hand. Maybe if he showed Bakura that he carried around the Kyroi Heledi, Bakura would calm down towards him. Maybe, he didn't know Bakura that well but he hoped that he could after time.

What was he thinking? Ryou sighed softly, making his way down to the office, shuffling in small steps as if wanting to postpone his little trip down to Bakura. He had volunteered to do this but now he was getting second thoughts. He had gotten a bit over his initial fear of Bakura but it still held quite a bit of him down while the other bit demanded for him to get his ass down there and be a man. Not to mention that part was suggesting rather…peculiar things that made Ryou flush heavily. He should not be thinking about that especially since Bakura would be going back to his home. No matter what happened Bakura belonged back in the ocean, his home, the place where he would be missed the most. He felt a small flutter of panic bloom in the pit of his stomach before shaking it away. Bakura would go back; it's the only way…

"Ry? Ryou Bakura!" A loud voice and snapping fingers in front of his face brought him back from his mental musings. He screeched to a halt and looked quizzically at Malik in front of him. He was waiting impatiently with one hand on his hip, leaning towards one side and his other hand ready to snap again in Ryou's face.

"Oh," Ryou blinked. "It's only you." For some reason Ryou had been expecting the impossible. That it was Bakura instead.

"'It's only you,'" Malik gasped, putting his hand on his heart and closing his eyes as if in pain. "It hurts Ryou, right here." He tapped his heart twice then opened his sparkling lilac with humor.

"Did you need something?" Ryou inquired, shuffling to balance the Kyroi Heledi and the plate of raw trout.

"Yeah," Malik nodded and bit his lip, actually looking nervous. It had been gnawing at his conscience and it had been driving him insane. The guilt also had been a major factor. "I just want to say I'm sorry and I was a total idiot." His unusually solemn eyes were brought up by Ryou's surprised ones.

"Why?" Ryou said, startled. It wasn't everyday that Malik apologized. He was a very proud individual and it was really hard for him to bend that pride enough to say sorry.

"I…," Malik sighed. "For doing that." He gestured weakly to the silver snake in his arms. "I just wanted to know if it was true, you know. But I would never, ever put you in danger Ryou. You've got to believe me." His voice put on a desperate edge. He wanted Ryou to see how sorry he was for doing something so stupid.

Ryou's gaze softened as he gazed at his sorry-looking friend. Ryou knew that Malik never would put him in danger; it was a given fact. It did give him a shock in finding out that anything really could happen thanks to the bond that he and Bakura now shared but it did pass away fairly quickly which surprised him. He had always been the one to worry about things and their consequences. It may be the fact that he didn't know what the problem was so he didn't know what consequences might happen in the near future. It could be rewarding. His mom taught him that. Don't be afraid of the dark because you never know what might be hidden inside, why not something happy? His mom always told him that before she went away on trips and he cherished those little words.

"It's alright, Malik," Ryou said calmly, grinning kindly.

"No it isn't," Malik shook his head forcefully. He tugged at his hair, feeling like a heel. "Something could have happened to you and it'll all be my fault." The thought was almost unbearable, to lose the few friends he had. His back started tingling weirdly like it always does when he thinks about what happened when he was little. Stupid fucking crazy parents…

"Malik, I know that you would never hurt me," Ryou said quietly and shifted the load in his arms. "You're my friend and I trust you."

God, Malik could feel the tears wanting to break out. Ryou always brought out the PMS-ing girl in him, no doubt about that. He wheezed out a watery yell and threw himself on a startled and off balance Ryou, latching his tanned arms around him, raw fish and all. He squeezed happily until Ryou's eyes threatened to pop out of his little albino face.

"M-m-al-ik," Ryou gasped, once again victim to Malik's infamous monster-air-depriving-lock hug. He should have known that was coming. "Dy-i-ing, a-a-ir!"

Malik chuckled and backed off his victim, feeling a lot better than he did before, knowing that he was forgiven and all was now normal. Except he still felt bad about what happened. He couldn't help it.

"Are you sure?" Malik said, anxiously. It was very unlike him to be nervous and he could tell that his being nervous was making Ryou nervous because he was never nervous so in being nervous it caused others to be nervous of his nervousness.

"Sure of what?" Ryou said worried. Malik was taking this a bit hard wasn't he? He could see the Egyptian was being eaten alive by guilt.

"Sure of, you know," Malik said, vaguely, waving his hand helplessly, not being able to put his thoughts into the words he wanted. "You being okay and me being forgiven."

"Malik, you're forgiven," Ryou said, tapping his foot on the floor. "Don't make me tell you again." He smiled, showing that he was teasing.

"You're the best, Ry," Malik affirmed, smoothing down his small shirt (he always wore small shirts. Malik said a lot of clothing made him feel restricted) that now had a big wet patch in the middle of it, thanks to the raw fish Ryou had when Malik tackled him. He wrinkled his nose with distaste. Now that smelled awful. Well, that least now he had the feeling that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but that really didn't take away the smell. "Ewww."

"You better go change," Ryou said reasonably, feeling a bit bad because he ruined Malik's shirt. Well, okay, not directly but he was holding the plate of uncooked fish. Then he got an idea which made his smile. "Why don't you go and check the malls? I hear they have a nice variety."

Malik lit up like a Christmas tree in December. He, for some unexplainable reason, just loved to go shopping and Ishizu had given him emergency money in case he needed it. He had about three hundred dollars to spend. Now don't say that he didn't know when an emergency was, he did but he also knew for a fact that Ishizu had sneaked Yuugi the real emergency money because she didn't trust Malik at all with money. Anybody within knowing him for five minutes and possessed half a brain would immediately know that he would rob and spend you blind within seconds, no questions. Yuugi learned this the hard way. It was only a few weeks after they all met. They were hanging out at the mall, the four of them, and Malik asked, ever so innocently, if he could borrow twenty bucks and he would pay back later, he promised. Yuugi, being the kind soul that he is, happily lent him the money. Malik grabbed it and shot off into the nearest store, returning minutes later with a shopping bag. They would wander for a while when another store caught Malik's eyes and asked Yuugi again of he could borrow money. Of course Yuugi said yes and Malik ransacked the place. And it went on and on and on and it only stopped when the mall started closing. Malik had never actually paid all the money back to Yuugi but Yuugi forgave him and let it go, at least for a while. Yuugi is the master of games and revenge is a well known game. He learned that you never cross Yuugi but if you happen to, wear a hardhat, always wear a hardhat!

"Yeah!" Malik shouted, the excitement making his lavender orbs shine like the Northern Star. "I should do that! Thanks Ryou! Um, would you happen to-?"

"No, I don't have any money Malik," Ryou said, exasperated. Malik pouted, foiled again!

"Do have money, right?" Ryou worried that if Malik didn't have money he would go and pickpocket some poor old lady who couldn't see two feet in front of her and thought everybody was her long lost adopted thirty-two year old stepson, David.

"Yeah," Malik sighed through his nose. "Yeah, a little, you know."

"If a little means three hundred bucks than, yeah, I know," Ryou sad, smiling at the disbelieving look on Malik's face.

"She told you!" Malik exclaimed, astonished. He threw his hands in the air. "My own sister doesn't even trust me! What is this world coming to? When loving siblings don't even believe you're capable of managing some measly little pieces of green paper! Oh, the horror!"

Ryou chuckled softly and nodded. "Well, you should go if you want to spend a good amount of time there before the mall closes." The plate was staring to get heavy now. "Oh, and take a walkie-talkie if you're not taking Yuugi or Jou with you, okay?" It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Kay, but Jou is holed up in his room doing something and won't let anyone in. Yuugi has enough work around here to go," Malik said and made to walked away but stopped and laid a hand on Ryou's shoulder, looking solemnly at him. "Be free, Ryou, be free!" Malik said, nodding sagely. "I'm sure he'll like it." Then he winked suggestively and scuttled away leaving Ryou blinking confusedly after him.

"What?" Ryou said, tilting his head, then on realizing that he was alone started again on his trek to the pools and, ultimately, Bakura.

His soft, light steps barely made a sound as he neared the offices, taking the door right next to it. In order to open the door, Ryou had to empty his load on the floor. Once the way was clear, he grabbed his stuff and carefully made his way down the concrete steps, shriving slightly with the drop in temperature. Since Bakura thrived in the Pacific Ocean, Yuugi thought it would be better if the temperature was more or less closer to his natural one in the sea so that when he returned, he wouldn't have to adjust much to his normal environment.

As he neared the last few step, he couldn't help but wish that one of his friends were here with him. Maybe he could call back Malik. No, come on Ryou, you can do it. You won't depend on your friends all your life, so start doing it now. With this thought firmly planted in his head, Ryou called up all his hidden courage and made it down to the last steps down on the floor.

He waived uncertainly for a few seconds, not sure what to do or if Bakura was busy and wouldn't like to be disturbed. But the plate and the snake were starting to get too heavy for his thin arms so he took a step in the direction of the giant pool, looking at the weird shapes of light on the walls. They had turned off the lights on the ceiling and turned on the small ones on the sides of the pool, the ones in the water. The diving boards still stood above the far end of the pool, like huge plastic plant stalks or leaves or something. If they're made out of plastic. What are diving boards made out of? He would have to find out. Ryou subconsciously knew that he was distracting himself.

The silenced of the big room was unnerving, not to mention the smooth surface of the water was absolutely still. He couldn't see at all where Bakura was or if he was still here at all. On my God, was Bakura still here? What if he somehow 'magician-ed' his way out of the pool, the house, the city? Was he still in the same country?

"B-bakura," he called out tentatively into the semidarkness, feeling the humidity in the air around him. When he got no answer, he began silently panic. "Bakura? Bakura! Are you there?"

No answer came from Bakura. Alright, calm down Ryou, he told himself. Bakura must not hear you under the water; all you have to do is to get closer to the pool. Come on, Ryou. Baby steps, here we go. He shuffled his way closer, careful not to slip on carelessly spilled puddles of water.

Ryou put the plate of trout and the Kyroi Heledi on the floor, so he would be able to move more freely. They clattered softly as the contacted the floor. He made his way to the edge of the lowest end of the pool. Ryou kneeled delicately at the border and he peered down, his hair hanging past his face.

He could see the distorted bottom of the pool, only three feet deep. There wouldn't be much room for Bakura to move around if he was swimming around in this area. He looked all over the expanse of the pool but didn't see the flash of scales or the big white shape that he expected to see. All he saw was the water with no movement. Ryou was now defiantly worried now. Bakura had been there yesterday, could he have moved somehow? He figured it would have been very hard to move on land without legs but maybe he could.

Ryou was now frantically glancing around, feeling panic tug at his insides. He fervently tried to control himself and maintain calm. He usually didn't have a problem with it but this problem was somehow amplifying his concern.

"Bakura, please," he called out hoping Bakura would answer him this time. Maybe Bakura was still angry with him from last time. "Are you there? Please."

He leaned forwards, straining to see into the depths. He should look at the deeper end since Bakura would most likely be there. He shuffled his way sideways, feeling the denim of his jeans scratching against his knees uncomfortably. He was at about the 12-foot mark, midway, when he heard a splash.

His head snapped up looking at the middle where ripples were spreading out like someone had dropped a rock from a height. It echoed in his ears like his heart rate. He stared at the ripples but Bakura- or at least he thought it was Bakura- was long gone. Why was Bakura playing with him? If he wanted to scare Ryou, it was working pretty well. Perhaps he should go back upstairs and come down later with reinforcements. His mind was battling again as he knelt there, indecisive.

"Bakura?" he whimpered and cautiously leaning closer to the water. "Bakura this isn't funny!" His voice rose in volume.

This was really staring to annoy him and he wasn't easy to annoy. He breathed loudly and the noise filled his ears. This was enough for one day. He stood up and looked at the water sternly as if Bakura could actually see the look on his face.

"Fine," he said moodily, crossing his arms. "You won't get any food if you're like that. Cheerio." He turned around and prepared to march off in a dramatic fashion, feeling a little ridiculous that he was speaking at nothing in his view. But before he could go more than two steps, he felt that absolutely pants-wetting sensation of a cold and wet hand curling around his ankle, like some kind of man-eating plant vine.

"Aaahhh!" Ryou screamed and yelped as the hand jerked him backwards, making his bend backwards and trip over the arm. He had the single thought 'this is not going to be pleasant' before he crashed back-first in the cold pool water.

The coldness of the water jarred him out of shock and he instantly opened his mouth to squeak, resulting in gallons of water to flood his lungs. He choked and wildly kicked his legs, trying to turn himself around to swim for the surface, his lungs sending him urgent signals of need for air as little air bubbles escaped his open mouth which he quickly closed. All he ended up doing was crashing into the bottom of the pool, his hair getting into his face, blinding him in a time that he needed his vision. Just as he started to seriously panic he dimly felt strong and firm arms encircle his slim waist and, in blast, they were rocketing towards the surface more rapidly than even the fastest Olympic swimmer could go.

Ryou's head broke the surface with an almighty gasp and he started coughing all the water in his lungs out, his white hands gripping the stone arms around him. With a shuddering gasp he felt the fright melt away slowly when it registered that he could breathe. It was then that he also realized that someone was holding him up in the water so well that he didn't even had to trend water to stay afloat. And there was only one person in the pool that it could be. Ryou's face turned to a crimson color as he felt the rock hard chest behind him. Then the anger started showing itself.

"You alright, little minnow?" Bakura said, a fragment of concern showing in his voice. He didn't except the human to panic with his little trip.

"Alright? I almost drowned," Ryou said softly, shivering in his arms with the cold of the water. "That wasn't funny, Bakura." The soft accusation brought a touch of guilt out in Bakura.

He inwardly winced then scoffed on the outside. "It's not my fault you can't swim." He propelled them towards the edge since Ryou had managed to struggle his way farther into the pool than he anticipated.

"I can swim!" Ryou said indignantly, his heart beating hard in his chest. In spite of the coldness of the water, his insides were heated warmly and he felt a tad lightheaded from the feeling of security in Bakura's capable grip. He told himself feebly that it was aftermath of the shock. "You scared me and almost made me drown!"

"Well, you're not dead are you?" Bakura said indifferently and shrugged, his arms tightening around Ryou. For some strange and unexplainable reason, he liked the sensation of Ryou's silky skin against his own not to mention that the human fit nicely into his arms. Once realizing where his thoughts were heading, he put on an extra burst of speed and quickly lifted Ryou easily onto the ledge of the 'pool'. "So there's no problem, lighten up or are all humans this tightly wound up?"

Ryou gasped and firmly grabbed a hold of the ledge, pulling his whole body out of the water, feeling faintly disappointed in loosing Bakura's warmth around him. He coughed into his fist, getting the last of the water out of his system and wrapped his arms around his thin frame, quivering fiercely now that he was in the cold atmosphere of the room. His hair was stuck to his face and neck and he was fairly sure he looked like a half-drowned cat.

"Please don't do it again," he said quietly, moving his hair from his face with soulful eyes. He folded his legs under him, still shivering.

"Alright, fine," Bakura scoffed and swam backwards, diving under the water briefly before coming up again to his right. His fin moved slowly, keeping him accurately above water. He cringed a tad when the movement put strain on his gash, still wrapped in the bandage which had stayed on. Damn, his father… Why won't the damn wound close already?

Ryou noticed and pulled at his clothes since they were staring to stick to his skin. He should go change soon before he got a cold. The shock finally ebbed away and concern started sinking in.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, scooting closer despite his annoyance to Bakura.

"Nah," Bakura waved him away and propelled himself to the edge, grabbing it to steady himself to let his tail rest. He looked closely at Ryou then chuckled dryly. "I forgot humans needed to breathe."

"Yes, we do need oxygen once in a while," Ryou replied matter-of-factly then smiled shyly, seeming over his near death experience. Then the smile was replaced with a delicate frown. "Did you just call me 'little minnow'?"

Oh, shoot, that came out didn't it? He had been hoping Ryou missed that part. Bakura looked to the side, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "You remind me of a minnow, okay?" he glared at Ryou, daring him to comment.

Ryou back away slightly at the glare but curiosity straightened his spine. "In what ways am I like a minnow?" he said, looking at Bakura, leaning towards him. He ignored the heaviness of his clothes as he put his palms on the floor to support him. All he knew about a minnow was that they were little fish found in streams and oceans.

Bakura gritted his teeth, embarrassment curling in him. He just had to open his big mouth didn't he? The incident with the evil smelling, choking liquid in the big white jug and his little fit made him say weird things but he was just conscious enough at the time to figure out that he had spoken in Meridian so the humans had no idea of what he was saying, thank the seas. All last night he had been going over what he said and why he said it. Well, obviously he was totally out of it but he found out that Ryou really did remind him of the minnows in the caverns. They were small, fast, and most were a beautiful shade of silver, just like Ryou's hair. They were careful and always stayed in their tight little groups. If you got minnows to trust you, they were like little children, watching after you and playing along, not to mention they helped him some times to avoid getting caught by the Royal Guard. They were delicate and pretty…just like Ryou. Now, that thought had kept him up all night.

"Most are white like your hair," Bakura said vaguely and he forced himself to look at Ryou. In horror, he felt heat strain to flow onto his face. He ferociously pushed it down. There was no way he was doing something like that. He had principles, you know!

Ryou batted his eyelids then smiled thankfully like Bakura had just given him a gift. In a way he did. Ryou didn't know why but Bakura giving a nickname, no matter how odd it may seem, brought a feeling of being wanted. A whole different kind of wanted from his friends that much he knew. Oh, it was really sweet of Bakura and it filled him with joy to hear such a proud individual would say something like that to him.

"That's nice of you," Ryou said when he could speak.

Bakura huffed but didn't say anything. It was almost worth the embarrassment to see Ryou's face light up like that. Why he would be so happy, Bakura didn't know. He could see that Ryou was shivering from the cold.

"You better go," Bakura said.

Ryou looked saddened. Did Bakura want him gone? What did he do now? He always had to mess things up didn't he? Ryou shouldn't have pushed him to tell him; he had almost defiantly annoyed Bakura.

"You're going to get sick or something shivering like that," Bakura finished, seeing the look on Ryou's face turn from sad to surprise to a kind of gentle gratitude. "And if you get sick because of me, the tall idiot will harp at me all day long and I have better things to do than to listen to his rambles." The tough words rolled off his tongue pleasurably after his humiliation.

"Don't call Jou that," Ryou reprimanded lightly. He couldn't bring himself to seriously scold Bakura since he was feeling blissful from Bakura's concern about his wellbeing even thought it was obvious he tried to cover it. That jus made it more endearing.

Ryou stood up, dusting his wet pants, trying furtively to get the dust off which refused to budge. He decided it didn't really matter seeing as he was going to change anyways and wrung as much water out of his shirt as possible.

Bakura felt his if his eyes were drawn to the dripping water, making nice plopping sounds. Not for the first time he noticed, how the wet clothing hugged Ryou's body suggestively, outlining it so perfectly that he could almost see in his mind's eye what he would look like with nothing at all. This mental picture brought an unexpected flash of desire to flow through his chest. He shook his head, blood flowing hotly in his veins that could only mean one thing. He could barely make himself to look down.

But he did. The edges of the scales on his tail were slowly but surely turning a soft pink and the scales tightened around him, the hot blood pushing more pressure on his tail. Heat pulsed inside him and he knew he would have to get rid of this thing fast before he did anything drastic.

Ryou looked up momentarily and saw something weird was happening with Bakura. His face was flushed and his wide eyes were staring at something under the water. Ryou managed to get a peek at what Bakura was looking at before Bakura noticed the direction of his look and dove into the pool, splashing the tiles around the pool. He dimly saw Bakura's shape settle under the six-foot diving board, doing weird things with his tail, shaking it and slapping it against the wall. He was right under an underwater light so Ryou could see a bit better what Bakura was doing.

What was that? Was Bakura in pain? He faltered for a second before stumbling over to the smallest diving board, the water in his shoes making squelching noises. As he neared the diving board, a flash of white dashed from the shadowy light to settle on the other side of the pool.

"Bakura?" he whispered, looking at the frenzy figure. He had the sudden feeling he wasn't wanted and it hurt.

Bakura heard the softly spoken word and the concern and hurt behind it. He took deep breaths, the cool water filtering through his gills and throat, cooling him inside. To his relief, he found that his scales blunted and returned to their originally smoky white gray color. He would not go up until he regained full control of his heat front.

His head shot up as he heard the soft patter of feet on the floor, afraid that Ryou was going to get near him again. But instead he saw that Ryou's head was hung and he was heading for the stairs. He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand soundly.

He pushed off from the ground and made it above the water just in time see Ryou jump and look over his shoulder, his foot poised to take the first step up the staircase.

"Where are you going?" Bakura asked with as much irritation as he could muster. The effects of his heat front were finally draining away and his customary temperature returned.

"I was, um," Ryou stammered and put his foot back down, turning around to face Bakura directly, looking at his feet. "I thought you might want some time alone." He shuffled his feet.

"No, you can come back," Bakura said, waving his hand in the general direction of the tiles near the number eight signifying the depth. He asked himself what he was doing. It would have been a lot easier if Ryou just left.

Ryou brightened and sat down in the spot Bakura waved at, tucking his legs under him, Indian-style, right next to medium-sized puddle. Instantly his wet clothing gave him one heck of a wedgie. He sucked in a breath and fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to rearrange his underwear without Bakura noticing.

"I thought you wanted me gone since you ran, um, swam away," Ryou said, looking at Bakura with big eyes.

"No, it was just some stuff I had to take care of," the merman said, tapping his nails on the tiles. "Nothing you have to know." The last statement was said as an afterthought.

"Oh, okay then," Ryou said, clasping his hands on his lap as they lapsed into silence. It was that kind of silence that wasn't awkward but not pleasant. It was just the silence in which there was nothing to say and eyes were diverted to feet or walls.

Bakura was now perfectly normal now, his tail returned to his normal texture but his ears were ringing in the silence. He was trying not to look over and observe the still soaked human. He could risk another one of those episodes. It would be one hell of an embarrassment and he had enough of that for one day…night, whatever time in was. There were no damn windows in this place.

He couldn't believe that a human brought out the kind of reaction thousands of mermaids tried to get out of him and failed. He hadn't had a heat front in months but he couldn't be feeling that for a human. A human! A very beautiful, soft, kind, sensual, innocent, pure, girly-looking human that he could easily get under hi-... He twitched. His mind had to get distracted fast. This was wrong on all levels. Getting it on with another male was fine but with a human? A two-legged, air breathing, weakling human. He had the sudden urge to get away and to feel the thick and salty waters of his home not that it was considered his home anymore. He could never go back now not with his father waiting for him, ready to bend him under his rule for the last time.

The smell of food registered in his brain and his nose twitched, gladly distracting him. He noticed for the first time that there was plate with trout on the floor, looking very inviting. Next to it was the Kyroi Heledi, lying on its side. Ryou must have carried it and the platter down with him. Why was Ryou carrying the Kyroi Heledi when it was clear he didn't want it? That thought just angered him more.

Ryou noticed that Bakura was looking towards his left and, glancing over his shoulder, remembered what he went here for. Bakura had to be hungry. How could he have been so irresponsible?

"I brought you some trout," Ryou said, stating the obvious. He reached over, just managing to reach the plate and, as a second thought, hooked a finger around the snake's coils; bring it along with the platter. He put the Kyroi Heledi on the ground next to him, unable to meet Bakura's eyes. He put the platter on his lap, the fishy smell weaving in the air between them.

"We weren't able to find any tuna or squid so I hope you lik-" Ryou started to say.

"It's fine," Bakura said bluntly, interrupting Ryou. His mouth was watering with the delicious smell that drove up his nose.

"Okay," Ryou said, relived. He offered the plate to Bakura, careful not to accidentally dump the trout into the water, tilted enough so that Bakura could pick up a slice. He had been worrying that Bakura wouldn't like the trout. "Here."

Bakura lifted an arm out of the water and grabbed a slice of the pink and gray fish. The plate dipped as Ryou's arm almost dropped the platter from the loss of weight. Without further ado, he dug his canines into the tender flesh with relish. He could go several months without food but he would get weak after a while and the hunger pangs would also be present. Once he went five months without a single bite to prove to his father that he didn't need to have anything provided for him. Yami had to stuff food down his throat forcefully with Marik holding him down so he wouldn't pass out and get eaten by a passing shark. Seto, the bastard, didn't do anything but to watch on uninterested. He hadn't talked to them for weeks but was secretly thankful. He wasn't sure how long he would have lasted; he probably would have ended up killed his stubborn self.

Ryou watched in fascination as Bakura ate raw fish like it was bread. He had finished with the first slice and had started on a second. Juices from the fish ran down Bakura's jaw and dripped into the pool carelessly. Bakura licked his lips and Ryou could help but to stare, enthralled by the movement of the pink muscle. He wondered what else Bakura could do with that tongue…

"That's wasn't bad, little minnow," Bakura said as he sighed satisfactorily, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He had finished while Ryou had been spacing, making jump and look at the empty platter. What Bakura had eaten in five minutes had been three fully grown trout.

"Will you want more?" Ryou said eager to please Bakura in any way possible. He put the plate down on his right. He liked the casual way Bakura said his little nickname. It was kind of heartwarming.

"Not today but I would like some more tomorrow," Bakura said, flicking the water with his fingers. "You have more right?" Bakura lifted an eyebrow and looked at Ryou expectantly.

"Um, no but I could go get some," Ryou said, quickly. He hadn't expected for Bakura to eat all that fish.

"Good," Bakura nodded approvingly. He dipped his head in the water to wet his hair since it was drying quickly. He glanced at the silver snake then back to Ryou. The annoyance of last night mounted again when he realized that Ryou wasn't wearing his symbol. Maybe he was taunting him, showing that he didn't care that he offended Bakura and pranced around with the Kyroi Heledi.

Ryou looked mystified when Bakura's expression flattened like one of his famous pancakes. They had been having a good time, at least he thought so. What happened? Ryou reached out and grabbed the Kyroi Heledi, putting it in his lap. Was Bakura angry with him for bringing down the Kyroi Heledi?

Bakura drifted a few feet back and floated on his back, looking at the ceiling, anywhere but that accursed snake. His hair fanned out in the water and his large fin dipped out of the water, the liquid on his fin cascading down like a miniature waterfall. His stomach was under the water, his bandages on his chest loosened slightly.

Ryou cradled his snake and looked down, ashamed. He didn't know why he was ashamed but he did.

"What did I do?" The question forced itself out of Ryou and he bit his bottom lip, not sure how Bakura would react to that.

Bakura left his tail fall back into the pool and looked at Ryou over his chest. The little human was looking surprised as if he didn't mean to say the words.

"What you mean?" Bakura said indifferently, eyes raiding aggravation and impatience.

"Well," Ryou whispered, still looking down. He decided that he might as well finish what he started, tried his best to maintain eye contact with Bakura which was hard to do. They were just so dark and secretive, drawing you in and once you are sucked in it was almost impossible to get you out. Ryou weakly wondered if Bakura was using his powers on him.

"You just seem angry," he said, wringing his snake in his hands. The cool metal brought some comfort. "I was wondering what I did to make you mad. Does it happen to do with this?" He lifted the Kyroi Heledi slightly.

Bakura looked into Ryou's mournful eyes and inwardly winced. He had been so wrapped up in his annoyance that he didn't realize that Ryou had been left in the dark. After all, Ryou hadn't been raised with merpeople's traditions.

"Yes," Bakura somewhat snarled. He forced himself to calm down and then continued in a slightly more passive voice. "Sort of. Anyway to make the long explanation short, you, by your actions, insulted my family and my position because that snake represented my trust so you proved that you didn't care shit about that trust I gave you."

Ryou gaped wordlessly. He had no idea… He felt downright awful. Even though he didn't know it, he had done all those things to Bakura, unintentionally of course but all the same. How was he supposed to know that? No wonder Bakura was angry. He would be angry if someone insulted him like that.

"I'm sorry," Ryou said, sounding genuinely sorry. "I-I had no idea."

Bakura analyzed Ryou, looking for any signs of deception but all he saw were truly repentant emerald eyes that just shinned with innocence. Against his willpower, he felt his anger and annoyance melt away. He closed his mahogany orbs then smirked thoughtfully.

"I'll forgive you," he said and, as Ryou's face brightened, lifted a finger in the air. "But you'll have to do something for me in exchange."

"In exchange?" Ryou inquired, suddenly feeling like he was trapped between a wall and those eyes.

"Yes," Bakura explained smugly. "You see, that's a big insult so it is only decent that you give me something in exchange. So what do you say?"

Ryou thought about it. He did want Bakura's forgiveness but the thought that he would own something to Bakura made him a bit edgy. He fingered the Kyroi Heledi before deciding that he would agree. Bakura wouldn't make him do anything too bad, would he? Hopefully.

"Alright, I agree," Ryou said a bit reluctantly.

"Good choice," Bakura smirked widely. That had gone nicely, he had to say. Now Ryou owned him something and he could think of some things that he would be happy to let Ryou do.

Ryou smiled softly then shifted again. Curse whoever invented wedgies. Bakura looked like his mood had shifted. He seemed quite content with the circumstances. It was a relief to be back on Bakura's good side.

"Bakura can I ask a question?" It was better to ask before just in case it angered him again.

"You already did but I guess another one wouldn't hurt," Bakura allowed with a nod and his full attention. He had swum to the edge in front of Ryou and crossed his arms on the ledge; like he did yesterday.

Ryou shivered slightly and picked at his clothes that were slowly drying on him. This was uncomfortable and with Bakura looking at him like that made him even more self-conscious.

"Well, I was wondering…" he trailed off, ill at ease.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day," Bakura snapped, frowning at him.

"Do you mind telling me what your powers are?" Ryou breathed out, chiding himself for seeming too eager.

Bakura tilted his head thoughtfully. He didn't see why not but should he really trust this little human? Well, he already gave him his bonding talisman so why not give him a little extra info. He already had the promise from Ryou so it would be like an exchange of trust or something as equally corny. It was not as if Ryou could do something with the information.

"Fine," Bakura shrugged carelessly. Then he smirked as he decided to tease Ryou a bit, just to ruffle his feathers. He tucked in his chin, making his spiky bangs shadow his eyes which glowed like molten silver. He focused on the puddle of water next to Ryou's folded legs and it rippled as if someone had blown on it softly.

Ryou was looked quizzically at Bakura not noticing the rippling puddle. Bakura had his head shadowed by his hair, so he couldn't see his expression. He suddenly felt a brush of nervousness.

A thin string of water, no wider than a needle, spiraled from the main body of water. It made circles in the air, each circle wider and bigger than the last, looking like some weird king of curl. Bakura easily made it arc towards the human and poke softly the flesh of Ryou.

Ryou jumped slightly and noticed the string of water floating in the air. A lump formed in his throat and he felt paralyzed, flashbacks from the last time water moved like this. He just couldn't move, fear flooded into his limbs. He could only watch as the string shimmered like a silvery ribbon.

Past the film of magic, Bakura saw the look of terror on Ryou's face. Now that he thought about it, Ryou didn't really have any good experiences concerning magic even if it was only two times. Bakura decided to change that right then and there.

The head of the tread of water moved downwards to the floor and straightened itself out. It laid on the floor like a caterpillar, the end disconnecting from the puddle. Ryou managed to move his eyes towards Bakura before they were drawn back. It curled up like some king of snail. It melted into a ball, smooth and perfectly symmetrical from every side. Ryou gazed, amazement momentarily overriding fear, as it stretched out and shaped itself into something like a little tower. It shimmered with silver again as it twisted and showed the world its final form.

Standing on the floor was a little miniature figurine of a human, looking like it was made for glass. It was beautiful, he could see the water it was made up of swirling in the inside and it seemed like a miracle it didn't spill over onto the floor. It wasn't at all frightful but it was surprising. And as he looked closer, he noticed that the figurine looked familiar. He saw what looked like long feathery hair and delicate arms and legs. But he didn't recognize the face; it was too perfect, too angelic for it to be based on an actual human being.

"This is what we call our magic," Bakura's heavy voice said, amused at the astonishment the other showed. "I don't know how we got it but we can use it to do many things. This is why you humans have never caught one of us. Your weird devices and giant capsules are easily diverted with a simple spell."

"'Giant capsules'?" Ryou said, slightly distracted as he looked up from the water figurine. He blushed hotly as he met the dark face of Bakura with sliver brown eyes. "Do you mean submarines?"

"A what?" Bakura shook his head, lingering on the thought of turning his sculpture into something else before deciding that if he did something else to it he would possibly give Ryou a heart attack. "Never mind," he muttered.

The light in Bakura's eyes diminished and then the figurine splashed into the ground, purely water again in its own little puddle. It was sad to see it disappear like that.

"It was beautiful, Bakura," Ryou said, looking awe struck. It occurred to him that magic wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Who was it?"

"No one just a random person," Bakura said airily.

"Oh." It must have been his imagination that the figure looked familiar. That wedgie was really bothering him now. As much as it pained him, he decided that he was going to catch a cold in this freezing air.

Bakura watched indifferently as Ryou stood up, taking the Kyroi Heledi in his arms. He tried not to stare because he was afraid he would get another heat front.

"I should go now," Ryou said as sniffled, picking at his shirt that was sticking to his chest.

"Very well, see you later little minnow," Bakura understood and started to swim laps around the pool, his muscles cramped after floating in the same position for a long period of time.

"By the way, it was very nice, your figure," Ryou whispered too shy to say it any louder. But Bakura heard it anyway.

He dove under the welcoming water and stayed under; watching where he knew Ryou was standing. He used his webbed hands to propel himself slightly forward in order to see Ryou's blurry form pick up the plate from the ground and make his way to the stairs. He saw Ryou look back at him one last time, the distortion of the water making it impossible to see the expression on Ryou's face. Then he was gone up the stairway and back to the other humans.

Bakura floated silently for a minute, basking in the overwhelming silence. It now seemed to him how silent and cold the room was. He never noticed that before. How could such a person bring out that kind of reaction out of him? He didn't understand it. He even missed Yami's proud nature, Marik's crazy antics, and Seto's logical and sarcastic remarks. Anything to make things like they were before this confusion was formed inside of him. It was making it very uncomfortable to even be in the same house knowing that Ryou was somewhere in there as well. It was all his damned father's fault! If only he had left Bakura alone from the beginning then nothing like this would have happened. He would still be underwater with his friends and he would be in the place where he knew he was in control but now he was here. In a human household, injured with a wound his own father gave him, and now he had a heat front for a human. But if his father never did that then he would have never met Ryou. And why did that seem like a painful thought?

Yami would annoy him endlessly if he ever found out. If he ever saw Bakura again. For all Bakura knew, Yami could be in the granite caves in the Palace dungeons were all outlaws or criminals were sentenced after a trail by the Council. At least Seto's stepfather might intercede on Seto's behalf. Maybe, Gouzaburou Kaiba was not known for being the most caring of individuals and Seto hated to have anything given to him on a silver platter even if it was a life or death thing. He hated not knowing what happened to his best friends, his only true friends. If only he could contact them but there could be miles in between them if Marik, Yami, and Seto were together. If they were dispersed Bakura stood even less of a chance.

He remembered the little water figure he made with his magic. He didn't know why he did that. The figure had just formed involuntarily and he would have had a hard time explaining if Ryou recognized it. Why did things turn so complicated? He was Bakura damnit! He was always cool, composed, and hard-willed. He never bowed to anything and he would take anyone on. So why did he…

"_The figure was you, little minnow,"_ he whispered too late and cursed himself for being so damn mushy and emotional. He didn't even have the courage to say it in English. Stupid human messing with his brain…

* * *

"Keep the change," Malik said as he tossed some coins in the general direction of the cabbie's head. He grabbed his bags from the seat next to him and popped out the open door. A barge of noise attacked his ears when he was out in the open.

"Hey, kid!" the bald middle aged man shouted at Malik, the door slamming closed. "This is five dollars short." He stretched one pudgy, grimy hand.

"No! Really," Malik gasped, looking shocked before sticking his tongue out. "Too bad, ugly!" Malik laughed all the way as he ran, pushing into the crowd, his bags swinging at his sides.

"Brat, get back the hell back here! Fuck you!" He heard the dirty curses yelled at his back from the red faced man. He really should have checked the money earlier. Well, his loss is Malik's gain. It had been a mistake hitching a ride with that taxi. Why can't he get the cute taxi drivers? Did cute taxi drivers even exist?

As the guy's shouts dimmed in the background, he slowed to a pleasant walk. He was currently in the square that was smack in the middle of town, with the crowds of people swarming every which way like the little bugs under a log that had been lifted. Little kids were screaming at their parents and ran around the place like they owned it, their parents trying in vain to catch them. Middle aged women were chatting it up in groups, each with their own bags from Victoria's Secrets, Claire's, or other girly stores. Occasional couples walked hand in hand, smiling at each other on the pathways, ignoring the searing heat raining down on them.

He threw a blue bag over his shoulder, his hand firmly grasping the handle, the other holding another bag, red this time. His sneakers making thumping noises as he walked. The heat didn't bother him in the least. Back in Egypt, the sun was at least three times worse than this. He didn't even break a sweat not to mention his small violet shirt helped him keep cool. See, it had its advantages. The walkie-talkie Ryou forced on him, was moving up and down in time with his steps on the belt loop on his shorts. All in all, he was feeling good on this day; he even managed to save some money from the taxi fare that he didn't pay.

He had gone with Ryou's advice and hopped on a taxi to the local mall (he ran out before that cabbie even asked for the money). He had gotten a motorcycle for his birthday from Ishizu but because of his 'reckless and insane driving expertise' as the police put it, he had gotten his license revoked, quite unfairly he must say. It wasn't his fault that little kid ran in front of his motorcycle and almost got squished in front of a police station. Little kids hate him, it wasn't his fault. Malik bets that the little kid was laughing his lugs out at this very moment. Just you wait, he thought fervently. You'll rue the day you got my license taken away. Let's see how you like to met the street face-first. So he couldn't drive Jou's car or the truck that Ryou's uncle left for them because of that.

Why was he in the square, you ask? He could have gone directly back to the house but decided not to. Yuugi and Jou were there along with Ryou and Bakura. A smiled flirted across his face. He had seen it immediately right as he saw Bakura, bleeding on the beach and Ryou's pale face looking terrified. Ryou had barged into the house like none of them expected. Maybe from Malik or Jou but never from quiet, sweet Ryou, who would go out of his way to make another person as comfortable as possible. Ryou would have done the same for anybody but this scene tapped Malik right on his skull. It was like some premonition.

He still felt pretty awful about the whole Kyroi Heledi thing. He had no idea it could be dangerous to his pal. Ryou said he forgave him but it didn't stop him from feeling bad. Stupid tablet, this was its entire fault! If only it hadn't drawn him with its mysterious aura…

He sighed then perked up again, dodging a man talking animatedly on his cell phone with sunglasses. Malik scowled at him, not that he man noticed. If he bumped into Malik, he might have dropped his parcels which he had spent two hundred and fifty bucks on! He had found some nice shirts, quite a few of them violet or blue matching his eyes. He also got himself some nice kaki pants along with some shorts. He had also noticed some really nice looking sandals and he just had to buy them. Along with some little tidbits for his friends. Let all who said he was selfish drown in their wrongness.

He looked at the passing stores, just in case something interesting popped up and demanded his attention. Instead he caught sight of some public telephones and thought back when he promised Bakura to check out the tablet's location. He glanced at his wrist watch. 6:44 pm. He could spare some time to call his sister and talk her into spilling some info.

He made it just in time to cut before some preppy looking teenager, who gasped as she was shoved to the side like yesterday's wet newspaper. Her pink eye-shadowed eyes glared at him and drew up to her full height, two inches under Malik, who sneered at her.

"Excuse me!" she snapped, dusting her mini-skirt even if it didn't have any dirt on it. It was too small to carry any amount of dirt that would need to be brushed off. Her little yapping Chihuahua snarled and yowled at him in its annoyingly loud high pitched squeak.

"You're excused," Malik smirked at her, flipping his hair as he turned his head so that it smacked her right in her red face. The joys of having long hair.

She spluttered indignantly then straightened herself and walked away with her chin in the air, her little rat being dragged away by the leash. Her dramatic exit was ruined when she stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk. Preppy then walked away as quickly as she could with Malik's laughter chasing her all the way down.

He snickered then rested his shopping bags down next to him. His hands shot down his pockets looking for his wallet. Where was it? For a moment he thought he left it somewhere when it finally emerged. The leather covering was battered and worn for use. He flipped it open it and opened a zipper on the side, all the while watching his bags from the corner of his eye. You never know when somebody might steal something from you. He has done it to people but there was no way in hell it was happening to him. Karma just didn't work that way for him.

He fished out some shinny coins and inserted them into the slot, folding his wallet back into his pocket. He grabbed the headset, putting it to his ear while his free hand pressed the telephone number of his sister's museum. It rang for four times before someone answered.

"Hello. This is the Domino Museum, how may I help you?" a bored voice said on the other side. A yawn filtered through.

Malik recognized the voice easily. "Hey, Boisu, how are you? How are the kids?"

"Malik you know perfectly well I don't have any kids," the front desk assistant said, exasperatedly, recognizing his voice at once. He could just see her fold her arms across her chest. "What are you calling for, you little monster? Do you need to be bailed out of jail again?"

"That was only one time," Malik said indignantly. He had been doing his regular rounds around the local stores, you know, picking a little here stealing a little there, when he bumped carelessly into a person. All his loot had spilled from his carefully concealed inside pockets onto the floor for the whole world to gape at. And it just so happened that the person he bumped into was a policeman of all people. A policeman! He had spent a night in the can for that. "No, I need to talk with Ishizu. Put her on, Boisu."

"Well, it's her finical funeral," Boisu said offhand, making Malik scowl through the line at her. "A minute."

Malik tapped his foot impatiently, on eye still on his bags. He could hear Boisu switching the channel with a sharp click and her static-like laughter as she snickered as the line changed.

"Ishizu Ishtar, may I help you?" Ishizu said calm and tranquil like always. It was a wonder they were related.

"Hey, Ishizu, it's me, your favorite brother in the whole wide world," Malik said, leaning against the phone stand. "How's it going?"

"What did you do now?" Ishizu said wearily and Malik could just see her rubbing her temples as if an instant headache formed when she heard his voice. How does that happen?

"Why does everybody think I am calling because I get in trouble," Malik said, outraged. "I don't get in trouble that often. Can't I just call to hear my beloved sister?"

"You only call went you need money or you need someone to bail you out of jail," Ishizu said crisply, acting like the adult she is.

"That was only one time! One time! Give me some credit here," Malik pouted as if his sister could see him and take pity on his poor sad self.

"Oh, alright," Ishizu sighed, the rustling in the background telling him she sat down. "So what can I do for you, Malik? And I have no money to give you, so don't ask"

"Whatever. Sis, do you remember a few months ago when we got the shipment of artifacts from Mesopotamia?" Malik asked, twirling a lock of pale golden hair around his finger absentmindedly.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Ishizu asked, amused but before Malik could protest she continued. "Yes I remember that particular shipment. They had the most beautiful jade sculptures."

"Yeah, well, do you remember the extra artifact that got transferred with our shipment?" Malik said, holding the phone with his shoulder to his ear as his hands searched his pockets again for a piece of gum. He needed to distract himself or he would blurt out the whole story to her.

"Yes, very well actually," his sister said, her voice laughing and irritated at the same time. "It was those unreadable tablets. The museum spent almost five hundred dollars in translators and none of them managed to translate the whole thing. Why are you asking?" Suspicion flooded her voice.

"No reason," Malik said brusquely, knowing that it would only make Ishizu even more suspicious. "The Tablets of Saikigo. Do you know where they transferred at?"

"I will not even look until you tell me why you need to know," Ishizu's stern voice ruled out any plans to sweet talk his way past her defenses. When she had that tone of voice it was always better for your mental and physical health to obey. He stuck a piece of spearmint gum in his mouth. The minty goodness! Yum.

"I, uh, you see, we got to…" Malik quickly racked his brain for any believable excuses. A merman asked him to look it up wasn't the most believable excuse. He wasn't good at this kind of stuff.

"Yes?"

"Umm, oh! A friend asked me about you and your gorgeous museum and wanted to know what my favorite artifact was," Malik said, holding his breath. "Now he wants to see it." It wasn't exactly a lie but not the whole truth. Please, let if work…

"I didn't realize that the Tablets of Saikigo were your favorite in the museum," she said smoothly, not missing a beat. "You didn't protest when I decided to relocate them to a new museum."

"Well, I didn't like them back then," Malik said hurriedly. "But I just decided that it was my ultimate favorite."

"Today?" He could the skepticism in her voice.

"No yesterday," Malik said then decided to speed things up a bit. "Please Ishizu? I'll clean my room for a month when I get back. No protesting or clawing the furniture. Cross my heart."

"Two months."

"What? Slave driver. A month and a week."

"A month and two weeks with two extra weeks washing dishes."

"One week with dishes."

"Very well."

"Deal," Malik sighed and resigned himself to his part of the deal. Ishizu had always been complaining about his room so he thought it would have been a fair exchange but she had to go and add the dishes on. At least he would get the desired information now. "Go check that now, sis."

Over the phone, he could hear the rapid clicking of her nails on the keyboard, searching where they shipped the Tablets of Saikigo. It was about five minutes later when a metallic female voice told him to put in more money or the call would be discontinued. He grumbled but put in more change into the machine.

"Do you have it yet?" Malik moaned, getting restless.

"Patience is a virtue dear brother," Ishizu said, amusedly, the typing halting for a second while she read something on her computer.

"Screw patience! Hurry, I don't have enough change to continue the call for long," Malik protested, noticing there was line beginning to form behind him. Just what he needed, stupid pedestrians. He popped a bubble with his gum, noticing with glee the frown on the old lady's face two people behind him.

"Always the impatient one, Malik," His sister commented then she hummed triumphantly. "I found it. It was on one of our old documents and that was moved several times to a reserve file. Let's see, what do we have here…"

"Well," Malik snapped, stomping his foot. He hated it when Ishizu played him like this. She would verbally make him go round and round in circles until he gave up and threw himself on the floor in a tantrum.

"I wouldn't snap at me, Malik Ishtar," Ishizu said, sounding like a mother scolding her rebellious child. In many ways that was true. Since his real mother was over in Egypt, Ishizu was basically the one who took over the mother position at their house. "I am the one with the information I could or could not give you."

"Alright, alright, I give thee my sincerest apologies, fair damsel of thy computer," Malik said, posing in the classic 'Romeo looking up the balcony at Juliet' pose. "Forgive this worthless scoundrel, but alas I am not worth thy time so my heart bleeds…bleeds…bleeds." His voice got softer and softer as he said the last words, sounding like he was the last person on earth.

"Yes, enough with the theatrics, brother," Ishizu chuckled. "I can only imagine what the people around you are thinking." So with that idea, Malik looked around, many people staring at him like he was mentally disturbed or just stupid. He loved to mess with people's heads.

"Yeah, well, fuck them," Malik said carelessly, noticing the little timer on the telephone machine showed he only had two minutes left before he had to pay again.

"Language, young man," Ishizu commanded.

"Sorry, holy manager of the museum," Malik snickered. "I promise to behave like all the other little boys and girls. I'll be more stupid in the future."

"What am I going to do with you?" Ishizu said wearily. "Anyway I have the location of the museum."

"Yeah? So…" Malik trailed off for Ishizu to fill in. Along with Bakura he wanted another look at the tablet. It was a lot more interesting now that he knew he would be able to read all of it with Bakura translating. Well, he ought to be able. Was the tablet written in the same language as Bakura spoke the other day? He should ask as soon as he saw Bakura again.

"They should be in the Shijou Museum of Ichthyology unless they relocated it in the past few months," Ishizu reported from her computer screen. "A pretty good institution if I have to say so myself."

"Cool! Thanks a lot Ishizu, you're the best," Malik said excitedly and wrote the name of the museum on a spare piece of paper with a pen he pick pocketed from some teenagers at the mall. It's not like they're going to miss it or anything. He put the paper in one of his bags.

"I am going to regret this later, am I not?" Ishizu sighed then her tone warmed. "Stay out of trouble and have fun, baby brother. I'll see you in about a month."

"Right. See you later Ishizu," Malik said happily and, once Ishizu said her goodbyes, hanged up with a loud bang. He grabbed his bags, relived they were still in one piece, and pirouetted on his left foot. He promptly bowed to the shocked people behind him and bellowed. "GOOD DAY TO YOU ALL!"

He could see the people bend backwards with the force of his bellow, their hair flying backwards as well. They all blinked and looked disoriented, picking stray braches from their hair. Before even one person could open their mouths he walked away at a brisk pace. His bags swung at his sides.

It hit him just then, he never asked Ishizu were this Shijou Museum of Ichthyology was located at. It could be in the middle of the Amazon rainforest in a remote little village with people that had bones stuck through their noses and earlobes for all he knew. Idiot. And he called himself an Ishtar.

He turned around, ready to call again before noticing that the line had grown twice its length in just ten seconds. Usually this wouldn't be a problem, he would just push them out of the way and ignore them as they yelled in his ear or, with the more forward ones, smack them right in the face and screech in a very high voice, "Police! This pervert is molesting me! HELP for all that is holy! My virginity!" That usually got them running away in no time. But this time there were some big punk-like bodybuilders standing in line and, to make it even worse, they were leering at him in a very not-so-innocent way. He had to agree that he was rather good looking. How often it is to see a tan blonde with lilac eyes and a cute butt walking around? But it was disturbing to see most of them were mud-ugly and looking at him like he was some kind of five cent slut. Sorry but happening creeps.

He turned around again and marched away, hoping the punks would leave him alone. He turned around a corner and discreetly peeked over the building. He saw them shoving each other and laughing like they were trying hack up their lungs. This especially disgusting guy with a purple Mohawk and a huge (and he meant huge!) nose ring was sneering in his general direction and puckering his gross pink lips then slapped his fellow punk on the shoulder, shouting their heads off at some sick joke at his expense probably. Malik sneered and thought that these were the lowest pieces of scum on the planet. He wasn't prejudiced against punks no, it was just these particular ones that made him want to puke. He had several good acquaintances that were punk. He found out that punks were the best for distracting.

Malik made his way back down the sidewalk, thinking that this was a nice day. He really ought to get back to Ryou's uncle's summer beach house. Wow, that would be really long to say in a conversation. It would be all "Hey let's go over to Ryou's uncle's summer beach house and have a party, man!" So he decided to call the house the R.U.S.B.H. from now on. Yes that's cool. People would ask what it meant and Malik would say, "Oh, that? It stands for Rescue Ukulele Squad Battle Headquarters." The he would laugh in their faces and yell, "Suckers!" Oh, that would be sooo hilarious… He had to try it some time.

Anyway, back to the topic. He really should get back to the R.U.S.B.H. before 8:15 or his friends will worry that he got into some kind of fight. Fights aren't really his thing. He prefers to do little sneak attacks on innocent bystanders then flee, leaving his victim wondering why he had a hole in the back of his pants. Jou was more of the street fighter of the gang.

He was about fifteen minutes away from the beach, from which he would be less than five minutes away from the R.U.S.B.H. He had some time to spare and it was such a nice day out. He would have to force Ryou and Yuugi out onto the beach for some fun. It had all been tense when Bakura was healing and they wasted five days, two days waiting for Bakura to wake up then two more for Bakura to wake up again and one more since yesterday when he woke up for real. This was supposed to be a vacation, for Ra's sake! He was sure Bakura wouldn't mind letting Ryou go and have some fun. He was seeing the sparks flying in between them even if no one else could. Every one here was as blind as bats!

Lost in his thoughts he walked on until he saw the faint shinning of the sea and the gold colors of the sand, immediately reminding him of his old home. His back itched softly but he didn't have any hands to scratch with. It always did that. Whenever he thought of his…fa-fa-t-t-h, oh screw this. He couldn't even say it in his mind.

In a snap decision he decided that he wanted to chill out before arriving at the R.U.S.B.H. he was wearing his favorite sneakers so there was no way he was taking one step on the sand. He looked around before noticing the pier. It was a wooden walkway that extended from the sidewalk all the way past the sand into the salty water, about ten feet into the waves. It was quite low but not low enough for the water to crash over the boards. It connected to a rectangular platform about the size of his bedroom (bathroom not included). There was no one around probably still nervous about the storm that occurred five days ago just in case it made a 160°, coming back to haunt them or something equally stupid.

He glanced at his bags, thinking about the risk of getting his precious clothes wet. The water was pretty calm from what he could see and the sun was less intense as it was since it was nearing 7:15pm and it was on its way to end this day of sunshine. Should he or should he not? That is the question…

What the heck? He could use some down time. Malik smiled, pleased, and walked down the pretty much empty sidewalk. Around this part of the beach and neighborhood it seemed that most inhabitants preferred to stay inside or were away for a long time. He doesn't know why, it's a beautiful part of the city not quiet but not loud either. Just perfect.

He heard the seabirds call high in the air as he turned and started down the pier, observing the sand near the wooden boards. The pier had large chucks of rocks along side of it giving it that classical pier look seen in the movies. Heh, for some reason he hated chick flicks. The way they all ended happy just pissed him off for some reason. It's always the same, the guy gets the girl and they get married or become lovers or some other bullshit. It was so predictable it made him sick. There were very few movies that had a realistic ending.

He was past the part where the sand turns into the water, crashing softly into the sides of the pier. The platform was a few feet higher up that the rest of the path, either it went upwards or somehow that sea level dropped at that specific part. He wasn't an expert on these things so maybe it was possible. Malik put down his bags and his walkie-talkie carefully on the entrance of the platform, making sure they were a good three feet away from the edge. Once he was sure they were safe from random waves and water droplets, he walked over the very edge of the pier. Malik sat down, taking off his sneakers and socks. Then his legs dangled over the ledge, a couple of inches from the water's surface, toes spreading in pleasure.

Malik sighed and tilted his face upwards, feeling the cool wind blow in his face. His hair blown backwards slightly, showing his normally hidden ears. His eyes closed briefly and the salty but calming ocean air tickling his nostrils. The seabirds were still singing above him, sailing on the winds with slim white wings, a random bird diving into the water and returning with a small fish in its beak. He never really noticed but the ocean was so beautiful, like it really was an actual person ready to listen to your worries. The blue and green colors changing with the sunlight and the motion of their waves caused by the wind.

He had been in Egypt for most of his life, never having developed a close appreciation for the oceans. He remembered the first time he saw an ocean. He was about twelve when he and Ishizu flew to his current home, his back stinging painfully for days after that happened. He had pressed his face against the window and gaped openly. It looked like the Sahara desert except all for its sand had been replicated with water. He asked Ishizu what it was and Ishizu said that it was the ocean, the original home of all living things. He remembered feeling like this was a miracle, never have seen any body of water bigger than a section of the Nile River, and that the water was saying that it was his home. Of course that amazement had worn away after a few years but he always remembered how protected he felt on that day. He wondered if he would ever feel that way again. He doubted it.

It was a good decision to come here. At least he thought it was and it was all that mattered.

* * *

"How close are we, Yami?"

Yami scowled over his shoulder at Seto, who narrowed his eyes at him. He flicked his blonde bangs out of his face and turned around to face the other.

"I told you I don't know," Yami said, crossing his arms at the taller merman. "This is the general area but I don't know where exactly." He spread his arms as if to say, "You have any better ideas?"

Seto sighed and ran his hand across his face wearily. It wasn't going to do them any good if they started fighting. They had very little sleep these past few days, running away from the Royal Guard and sea predators had been a 24/7 hour watch job. They decided to take short sleeps while one kept watch over the other two and the surrounding area. On each round they were only able to get about two to four hours of sleep, enough for them to function but not as much as they would have liked.

"We better scout the area," Seto said, taking control of the situation. He eyed the surface warily. "We have maybe, three to four hours tops before the light retreats. We will have to find shelter again."

"Of course, it's not like we haven't been doing that for the past days," Yami said, rolling his eyes at Seto.

"Keep it up Yami, keep it up," Seto said, almost hissing.

"Alright, I'll be quiet," Yami said, holding up his hands in surrender. Seto could be worse than a starved Great White when he was really pissed.

"Good," Seto, settled back, appeased for now. He turned around to observe his surroundings.

"Ass," Yami whispered, fully knowing that Seto would hear.

Seto scowled at the open ocean but said nothing. Why did he get stuck with these two imbeciles? He suppressed a sigh. They were currently at the divide between the open ocean and the beginning of the shallow waters of Ganter Bay. They were hidden behind a large expanse of coral rock sticking out of the sandy ground. It wasn't the ideal fortress but it had to do seeing that there was no more cover for them once they moved in the shallows. He really hated this situation. He had no control over anything anymore. He forced another sigh down.

Seto was really wearing himself out. Yami carefully looked over him, noticing the slight bags under his sharp eyes. That was nothing new though it was unhealthy. Seto would always get part of the work that his stepfather got from the Council and he would get them done by the deadline no matter what. Yami leaned against the rock, ignoring the sharp little pieces digging into his back.

"Stress is very bad for your health," Marik commented cheerfully, lying on his stomach near the rock. He was flicking a small blue crab over its back, so that it waved its little legs in the air. Once the crab righted itself Marik turned it over again before it had a chance to attempt an escape.

"I wouldn't be stressed if none of this would be happening," Seto snapped. "We have to find Bakura. He wouldn't be stupid enough to even try and approach humans so he has to be around here."

Yami hummed thoughtfully, the tip of a nail scratching his chin. "Would he?" Yami murmured then a though hit him. "Bakura was injured during the fight with his father."

Seto frowned. He had forgotten that. He had been more preoccupied with their current situation of being outlaws. They would not be able to help Bakura if they were in the palace dungeons. Those granite cages were infused with a barrier so any magic the prisoner used bounced back at him, usually transformed into an attack spell. Seto had seen first hand the affects of the granite cages and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. The prisoner didn't even last two hours after he tried to blast out of there. It was that powerful.

"He should have healed by now," Seto said, familiar with the healing rate of the average merman. And Bakura was not what you would call an average merman, the stubborn jackass.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Yami muttered. He hated to say it but it was probable that it could have happened.

"What?" Marik said, momentarily looking up from the crab he was tormenting. It scuttled away into a crack in the coral rock, making Marik frown. He lost the stupid blue shell crab. What was he going to do to fight boredom now? Seto wouldn't let them go anywhere until they knew what they were going to do. The best things in life are unexpected, in Marik's opinion.

"Nothing," Yami said, waving them away. "I'm sure Bakura's just fine." His mind was running into the basics that his mentor taught him. If there were two magics and both were from the same roots, used for ill intent…

"Let's do something now," Marik moaned, the boredom was digging into his brain.

Seto eyed him carefully. Could he trust Marik not to get lost or do something stupid this near humans? Marik blinked at him and smiled. Immediately Seto grew very suspicious. It was never a good thing when Marik smiled like that. Last time it happened, half the market was being overrun by piranhas. It took weeks to flush them out, not to mention the loss of several body parts.

"He'll be fine, Seto," Yami said, dismissing the issue. "The sooner we fine Bakura, the sooner we can sort this whole thing out."

"Fine," Seto grumbled, reluctantly caving in. He really did want this whole thing over with. "But if anything goes wrong, it's your responsibility."

"Alright," Yami agreed and turned to Marik, who was looking at them in a very excited manner from the ocean floor, and Seto. "We'll split up. I'll go west, Seto will go south, and Marik will go north. We'll cover up to five miles in either direction then meet up back here in-" Yami looked thoughtfully at the surface, calculating the sunlight seeping through the surface "-let's say three and a half hours. If anything goes wrong came back here immediately and spread out your magi signal. The other two will meet up back here."

Seto nodded, actually agreeing with Yami's plan. It was sensible enough and it was the best they could do at the moment.

"Good!" Marik pushed off from the floor and swam next to Yami. "Let's get going already."

"Okay," Seto said doubtfully. "But don't go doing anything too…you."

Marik raised an eyebrow but nodded, making his explosion of corn-yellow hair sway. He waved then looked around; trying to find which way was north. When he found the correct direction, he swam off, moving his wide fin down and up. He heard behind him several movement of bubble, indicating that Seto and Yami split up and went in their specific directions. He kept his arms at his sides, all the while scouting the area for anything that might lead them to Bakura.

Ah, it felt good to do something after staying in one place for so long. He might even find something to fool around with. He grinned to himself, running his tongue over his sharp fangs.

The silence helped him observe his surroundings more easily. The water here was cool. He looked at the sand, unconsciously comparing it to his first home. The sands over there were darker and the water was warmer even in the winter season. Marik decided to get closer to the shore line, just in case Bakura got stuck in the shallows or something along those lines. He veered to the right and decreased his fin movements. If he wasn't careful he could be the one stuck in the shallows instead.

Where could Bakura be? If he was Bakura where would he be…? Marik thought without much success. The further he swam, the closer the sand got to his stomach and his fin started to brush the bottom. He moved closer to the surface, feeling distinctly the sunshine on his back. The silence was a little too much for him; there weren't even fishes or crabs swimming around. There always was some kind of sea life everywhere they went. He guessed that there were too close to the shore to have many creatures.

After about two miles north, he began to get bored. There was nothing here to torment or play with. He was sure Bakura was fine anyway. Bakura had gotten worse injuries and survived but that was when the Palace Healer helped patch him up. Now he was all alone and probably keeping a low profile. He didn't know why Yami and Seto were so worried. They knew Bakura and his skills as a wanderer and thief. How ironic that the Royal Prince was one of the best thief around. It was very useful for when Bakura wanted to get revenge on something or other. Of course Marik would tag along; it was pretty fun after all.

Marik yawned then focused ahead with disinterest. There was nothing here to watch for. It was all blue on every side. Blue, blue, blue, blue, brown, blue, blue. So boring. And here he thought this was going to be fun. Suddenly what he saw registered and he perked up a bit. Something brown was out there in the sea of blue. He moved as close to the surface as he dared and pumped his tail faster now that something had attracted his attention.

In no time at all, he was close enough to see that the brown thing was a wooden pillar that stuck out of the ground and shot up into the surface and beyond. Marik poured on the speed, propelled by his curiosity. Once he got there, he stopped short and cautiously moved closer to the pillar. He tapped it once before laying a hand on it. The width was about twice that of his torso and it looked neither old nor new. The wood was fairly new, he could tell from the firmness and the smell that came from it. But the ocean had quickly claimed it. Big colonies of mussels had dug into the wood and green scum and stuff clung to it like it was their lifeline.

Marik looked over the pillar and saw an identical pillar about ten to fifteen next to its brother. Marik pushed off from the column and swam until he was in the middle of the two, looking at both each time he turned his head. He wondered what these things were here for. He thought about it for a moment before it struck him to look up since they were shooting upwards. He found two wooden planks making an x at about halfway up the pillars, each plank end touching the opposite pillar.

He saw that there were similar pillars behind the two big ones, about five to seven feet apart so all in all the made some kind of path towards the shore. They also had planks that crisscrossed on each pair. They looked to be supporters for the pillars. He never noticed the other pillars because they were thinner that the two central ones that stood out. They were also turning green with the salt water and had on mussels, sea stars, and some even had sea pens as well. He frowned. What was this weird human contraption here for? It looked quite sturdy and would probably only fall apart if a hurricane managed to hit it.

He tapped one of the big pillars with his knuckles then looked up again. Seto told them to stay below the surface but his inquisitiveness was screaming at him to go check it out. Who knows? He might find something worthwhile up there. He nodded with certainty and moved upwards. He kept the closest big pillar to his right, rising steadily and quietly. The water was getting warmer, he noticed with glee and he poked a passing sea pen making it sway dully. Marik reached out a webbed hand grabbed the crossbeams when he was close enough, pushing himself upwards so that he could somewhat sit where the planks crossed and dipped in the middle. He felt them groan a bit when he put his weight on them but since they didn't move much he decided it was okay.

He smirked and extended his index finger from his fisted hand, moving to the plank on his right. He put his nail on the wood and carefully but deeply carved his name in Meridian into the plank so that anybody knew that this was his possession. He nodded, satisfied. He loved to collect things even occasionally the something that didn't shine. Yes, shocking isn't it? If something piques his interest then he has to claim it. It's one of his quirks.

Once everything was in order, he swam away from the flat timbers and moved to the surface. He hesitated once he was inches away from touching the air above the surface, but he noticed that brown was showing through the water so he took a deep breath and plunged past the surface for the first time.

Instantly he hit his head on something hard and he yelped. He rubbed his head with one hand while glaring at whatever hit him. It seemed like the pillars were attached to some kind of wooden pathway that stood about six inches from the ocean's surface, right above the pillars. There was also more green attached to the belly of the pathway, from the salty waves crashing against it so often. It was dark with its shadow but there were lines of light in between each individual board that made up the pathway. He looked at it inquisitively before he become aware of something.

He was breathing. He had never been above the surface before and didn't know what would happen once he stuck his head out. He felt his gills flatten against his skin, a funny feeling. It was…hard to describe how it felt. His hair stuck to his face, almost dropping from his famous spikes but not quite. The absence of water brought a feeling of leathery proportions to his skin like it had been scratched with rocks. It was a weird sensation to feel a current flow into his mouth then into his lungs, like water but thinner, much thinner. This was how it felt to be dry, wasn't it? It was kind of uncomfortable but pleasing in a weird, new way. He experimentally stuck his tongue out and felt the moisture dwindle away after a while so he pulled it back in.

After a few minutes of getting use to this 'air', he carefully moved to an edge of the pathway, treading water. Before he moved out of the shadows he sent out a magic probe to search for any humans around the area. He knew the risk of getting seen by a human and was keen to avoid them. A probe was a little invisible orb of magic that reacted to auras of living creatures, moved by the currents. But since there weren't any currents here, he decided that air would have to do. His eyes turned bronze for a second as he felt the probe form and speed away on the air. He noticed that it was easier to move a probe in air than in water.

Seconds after he launched the probe, it returned but instead of being colorless it was changed to a dull yellow in front of his face. He dispelled the probe and dropped his magic for the time being. Yami and Seto wouldn't be close enough to feel the magi signal from the probe because it was one of the weakest and easiest spells to use. They sent out very weak signals but they were very useful.

Yellow…just his luck. It wasn't that bad, he supposed. Yellow meant one aura was sighted or the remains of a recent creature. So there could only one human around and his probe had come from the end of the pathway, away from the shore. He bit his lip. He had never seen a human and right now his curious nature was forcing him to check it out. Just a peek wouldn't hurt, right? Yeah, he nodded. As long as the human never saw him, he would be fine.

Marik went back under, his drier skin relishing the water. He positioned himself away from the pathway, near to the side. He wouldn't be able to see it he was under the pathway. Hopefully the human wouldn't be looking in his direction when he surfaced again. Marik would surface a bit away from the edge. The human would almost certainly be looking at the sun or to the open ocean. Calming his excitement, he once again broke the surface looking for the human.

Almost instantly he saw the human and his jaw dropped to his chest, his eyes wide. The human was sitting on the edge of the wooden pathway; the first pairs of legs that Marik ever saw were bending so that the ends were inches away from the surface. They were long, slim, and bronze colored to perfection, looking as smooth as metal shields unlike the rough scales of Marik's tail. The ends were split into ten little stubs, five for each end. His gaze was drawn upwards and landed on the cloth that was around where the legs connected to the torso. There was also another cloth, this time purple, around the human's chest but it was a small piece so that a thin line of the gold-brown stomach was available to Marik's greedy eyes.

Two attractive, slender arms extended from the purple cloth and supported the human's weight as he leaned backwards, his palms on the wood. His head was thrown backwards, tilting his delicately shaped chin to the sky and sunlight, exposing the long neck of the human. Shinning, thick hair dropped past his thin shoulders, looking like golden threads with darker brown thrown in the mix sparingly, adding to its natural tones. It shone hypnotically in Marik's eyes.

The human's delicious brown skin shone with the dying sunlight, making it glow faintly. Thin lips were curved upwards a little, drawing his gaze to moderate cheekbones. Under the silken curtains of his hair, two eyes were half closed but Marik could still see the color. They were a soft color of purple that looked like a cross between lilac and lavender, making the result a polished violet with dashes of shinning crimson around the pupil. They were so much more beautiful than his own wine-colored eyes especially with the thick black lines around his eyes, making them look brighter that they actually were. Above them were two slim eyebrows the same color as the human's hair, arching shapely. The human's ears were rounded unlike his and had on gold triangle-like earrings that were being swayed with the soft currents.

Marik floated for what seemed like hours, mesmerized. This…was human? This was not a human! This was a siren on two legs! Marik didn't even realize he was holding his breath. All that was clouding his mind was the beauty of this siren in front of him. If all humans were like this then he would be in paradise. But right now, his siren was there on the ledge, not knowing that he was being watched. And he just couldn't help himself anymore.

* * *

Malik yawned, starching his jaw until it popped. He shifted his weight so he could bring his right arm out in front of him and read the time. The numbers 7:30pm glowed in digital lettering on the face of the watch he had gotten for his fifteenth birthday. He had better start going now or Yuugi will send a search party in worry. He thinks that every time Malik was ten minutes late, he was being held hostage or something. Real sweetheart, Yuugi was.

The hairs on the back of Malik's neck were on end, making him shiver slightly. He had the weirdest feeling that someone was watching him, very intently he might add. He looked around, bringing his legs up to fold them under him, paranoid that his watcher might be a shark that wanted to chew out his legs. He liked his legs, thank you. His eye caught some movement from his right and he whipped his head around only to find faint ripples on the water. Malik shrugged and left it at that but he couldn't suppress the feeling of unease. The ripples could have been easily made by the wind not to mention some fish.

"Paranoid freak," Malik muttered to himself, shaking his head at how easily he could get suspicious at nothing.

Then he decided to go now, the cold salty wind was raising little bumps on his skin and his stomach was starting to send little signals that it was beginning to get hungry. He wondered whether Ryou would cook dinner today or they would just eat TV dinners again. Yuugi disapproved of them but they were the easiest to cook so he reluctantly let it go.

Malik was about to get up, using his legs that were folded under him to stand. But he never got the opportunity. Just as he was about to shift, a shadow fell over him and he heard the watery noise you hear when someone gets out of a pool fast somewhere behind him; that was the only warning he got. He had the time to twist around, eyes wide with surprise, glancing at pale blonde and brown before something knocked into his chest and two hard, muscled arms wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides. He squeaked and was thrown backwards with the momentum as a wave of water splashed into his clothes and eyes, blinding him momentarily and making the world blurry.

He would have landed hard on his back if the something had not supported him with one hand behind his back on the deck, stopping his fall mere inches from the wooden boards. The air was driven from his stomach into the face of whatever had him. And, get this, he didn't think of screaming. His mind was in shock.

"What the hell?" Malik yelped instead, blinking water out of his eyes and, finally getting common sense back, started to squirm with all his might to escape. He didn't even budge one inch from the arms that refused to let him go. The thing instead let the hand behind him close so that Malik landed on his back softly, the twin arms digging into his chest and waist. A hard wet chest fell against his own upper body and Malik faintly noticed that the chest was bare. The sun that shone past the figures head that was above him, very near his own face, did nothing to help him see better.

"Pretty siren." Malik heard the husky, hot words blown into his ears, making him tense up and blink faster, shivering hard. What he wouldn't give to use his hands to rub the water out of his eyes and see what the hell this thing on him was. Long yellow hair was all he could see clearly and that was right in front of his face.

He finally looked up and managed to blink most of the water out of his eyes, the drop trailing down his cheeks like he was crying. He locked gazes with blazing dark mauve, digging into his own with a fiery passion and adoration that just wasn't human enough. The insane glint in the thing's eye made him gulp nervously. He wished he was still water blinded.

* * *

Happy Valentines Day! (Throws confetti in the air) I personally don't really like this holiday very much; I usually go and party on All Hallows Eve. Anyway, next chapter will be the one you have all been waiting for. And yes, this is a long chapter. It looked like my chapters are steadily growing in length. Is that a good thing? Not a lot of Jou and Yuugi here but I had to fix things with Bakura and Ryou. Not to worry, there will be more action in the next chapter.

Review for me!


	9. Obviating the Bizarre

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yaoi) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi (Don't like, don't read. That's all I have to say- talk to the hand), mild cusses.

**Chapter Name**: Obviating the Bizarre

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh. I am doing this solely for fun and do not get any money out of it whatsoever (even though I could use the cash. Hmmm…)

**Author Notes: **Hello! HAHAHA! The Peeps are COMING! They will EAT US ALIVE! RUNNNnnnnn…. (Runs away until someone dumps a bucket of water on me) (Blinks confusedly) Oh, I got into the sugar supply again didn't I? Oh, and heads up, I sort of fixed chapter two a bit. I didn't like the ending so much so you might want to check that out. I like this new ending much better. It made the chapter much longer than the original one. Check it out.

And yeah, I sort of lost inspiration for a while. Sorry about the long wait, I had some vacation that I forgot to tell y'all. Forgive me? Thanks for the reviews!

"Blah, blah, blah," English

"_Blah, blah, blah," _Meridian

* * *

Marik nuzzled happily the softest hair he had ever touched, breathing in the sweet smell that swirled around the air of his siren. He arched his tail above them in pleasure of the feeling of having such a beautiful creature in his arms as said creature squirmed and blinked rapidly. He felt so dry but oh so comfortable like the human was just injecting contentment right into his system. Mmmm…

Malik, on the other hand, was not happy with being squished under this…thing that was beginning to snuggle disturbingly into his hair. It had taken an hour and a half to get his hair to behave this morning and now this thing was messing it up again. Not to mention he was staring to feel rather violated as he felt the arms tighten further at his squirming and he was being pressed so hard against the wooden boards, he was amazed he could still adequately breathe. His clothes were wet and he could feel the firm chest of whatever was on his own stomach, making his face acquire an odd shade of red.

"Get off me, you freak!" Malik shrieked loudly, trying to break out with more vigor as his mind produced possibilities at what the violent-eyed thing could be. They were not pleasant, trust him.

Instead of releasing him, the thing did the exact opposite and brought its head down to Malik's neck, running something warm and wet down its expanse slowly. Malik gasped wordlessly as its tongue licked his neck like a kitten asking for milk, leaving a wet trail in its wake. Oh, my god, Malik though numbly as he sucked in salty air and started thrashing ferociously like a wild animal, snarling and spitting. He tensed all his muscles and struggled for all that his life was worth.

Malik felt the thing's arms slacken, probably in surprise of his ferociousness, and took advantage in it. He kicked sharply upwards, aiming of the thing's groin but instead he felt sharp little edges of something digging into his leg painfully so he moved it away quickly. Malik twisted around in the slackened grip so that his hair was now firmly in front of the thing's face, blinding it for a second and that second was all he needed. He prepared himself to perform Sneaky Move #43 (Yes, he had a list, now scram) in which he had to twist forward and kick his legs on the floor, catapulting himself forwards, out from under the thing. This specific move helped him often when he was trapped in a tight corner or under a table, hiding from police and/or thugs.

He shot out from under the thing and landed with a thud a few feet away, his body crashing harshly into the floor. Malik quickly stopped himself from rolling off the edge of the pier, his bare feet catching the scratchy wooden surface. He winced a bit when the tiny splinters dung into the soft flesh of his feet but ignored them as he slapped the floor with both hands, pushing up until he could bring his legs under him. He was on his feet in seconds, fists up and ready to fight. Even though he didn't like to fight didn't mean that he couldn't defend himself. He was ready to kick the shit out of the thing to hell and back.

"Get ready to die!" Malik shouted angrily, whirling around to face the thing that came from the water, hoping it wasn't some kind of genetic monster from the depths of the ocean.

But there was no genetic mutant on the deck of the pier that was oozing pus and had bulging eyes the size of grapefruit. No, instead, lying on the deck was something that was quite the opposite of that. Malik was so shocked that he momentarily lowered his fists and rubbed his eyes, just in case he was seeing things and hallucinating. Malik pushed his wet bangs from his face and gaped, much to the creature's amusement.

What are the odds of finding another merman in less than a week? Five hundred to one? Especially one that looks a lot like him. Oho! It's a doppelganger, he knew they existed! Ishizu now owed officially him thirty-two dollars. He just needed proof. Where's his camera?

Dusty purple scales decorated the fish tail that was arched into the air so that the fin almost touched the merman's head. The scales at the waist were colored a really dark violet that looked almost black. The colors turned brighter and shimmered further down to turn into a lighter purple with sapphire edges that looked like the real gem, shinning in the dying daylight. Malik noticed that the merman's fin was wider than Bakura's, about six inches wider and it made up for the slight shortness of the tail. The edges of the fin were a slight red color like a red chalcedony. There were also short dark blue ruffles that went down the spine of the merman until the ruffles met the middle of the fin, melting into the sides of the fin easily.

The mysterious and smirking merman was currently on his stomach, seeing as he had been on top of Malik and he had just escaped from underneath. His arms were crossed in front of him on the wooden boards and his chin was resting on them. His blazing eyes sent shivers all the way down Malik's spine. Sooty eyelashes created shadows over his eyes, making him look more mystifying. Just like Bakura, this merman had dark tanned skin, a tad darker than his own tan (which he was proud of) and he could see the muscles and tendons rippling underneath the skin like waves. The merman had a strong chest and it was obvious even to a blind man that this merman was packed with raw power and strength. His shoulders are a broader than Bakura's. His shoulders were a bit sharper and bonier compared to this set.

The merman had a strong jaw and well defined cheekbones. The merman had hair that looked a lot like his own but was more…wild, no, eccentric was more the word. They were corn-yellow, dark blonde locks that stuck up in every angle possible and he meant –every- angle known to man…and merman, he supposed. Spikes shot into the air like plants stalks, refusing to abide by the rules of gravity that everyone else had to follow. Overall, he looked like he stuck a metal fork in an electrical socket at high-voltage. The merman's ears had more of a noticeable point than Bakura's but Malik could barely see them behind the explosion of hair.

Malik had to say that if you ignore the crazy and maniacal look on him, the merman was one of the best looking guys he had ever laid eyes on. And he had laid eyes on many guys before; he had to check out the competition after all.

Marik was laughing hysterically inside when he saw his siren gape at him for five full minutes. Yes, he was handsome wasn't he? Now, to get a little piece of that beautiful creature that looked so shocked and utterly delectable. Marik ran his tongue over the teeth inside of his mouth, relishing in the yummy taste that he managed to taste from the human.

"Hello," Marik purred darkly, flexing his muscles discreetly so that his skin rippled seductively. "What's beauty like you doing here? Something bad could happen to you." Like me, he added in his mind joyously.

Malik didn't register for a few seconds, his mind fried with surprise. Malik felt the suspicious sensation of heat spread on his face. Then Malik raised his eyebrows and placed his fists on his hips, squaring himself. Malik had this odd feeling that the merman wouldn't hurt him if he heard what he said correctly. The merman called him a beauty? That's a new one and one of the nicer ones too. He had been called cute (idiots), slut (thugs), law-breaker (by who? Can you guess?), sissy (currently stuck in the hospital) and various other names that wouldn't be appropriate for this audience to read. It was…nice in a way to be called such a flattering name. But the last sentence ruined the effect.

"I can take care of myself fine," Malik said, looking down his nose at the merman, noticing how the merman's smirk grew as he shifted on the wet boards. It reminded Malik of the wet clothes on him and he groaned inwardly. These were dry clean only!

"I'm not sure you can, after all," the merman said simply, tapping a finger against the boards. His eyes narrowed and sparkled crazily. "There are many things out there that could easily take advantage of you."

"Oh, like what?" Malik said, staring to get annoyed.

He could hear the softly lapping waves against the pier edge and looked at the sun from the corner of his eye. It was starting to fully set now and he had about fifteen to thirty minutes until the sun fully went down then he would be stuck searching for the R.U.S.B.H. in the dark, the shadowy and threatening dark. He would certainly get lost for hours on end, all alone and hungry with wet clothes that would probably make him catch a cold. He hated getting sick with any kind of illness. Yuugi would fasten him to the bed with belts until he was fully healthy again.

The merman's smirk was way too big for his liking and he nervously backed up, trying to look like he wasn't. Unfortunately he noticed and grinned showing the fangs that Bakura also had. Malik was forced to stand his ground by his pride. It's alright. If things get bad then Malik can always run into the main land. Well, that is if he can jump over the merman, seeing as he was blocking the walkway back to land. This was not good. He had one escape blocked and if he fell in the water or tried to swim away then it would all be over and the merman could do whatever he wanted with him…whatever that was. He did not want to find out.

"Like me," Marik said, grinning widely and showing all his teeth. Marik saw the human carefully edging backwards and inwardly frowned. He didn't want to drive away his human-siren. They could have so much fun together.

Malik pressed his lips together tightly and narrowed his eyes at the merman. What was it with this guy and constantly telling him that he was defenseless? He could kick the shit out of people two times his size but he doubted that he could beat this guy. He'll be damned if he didn't try though!

"I'd love to continue this conversation. It's so very enlightening," Malik said dryly, his voice stating the complete opposite. "But I have another merman to see and it's getting dark so if you don't mind, I'll be going now."

Malik moved to the side and waved his hands, trying to look nonchalant. Funny how a different person might react in his predicament. Version one: the person would stare and stare probably thinking that they were crazy, curl up into the fetal position and cry. Version two: the person could scream and panic throwing themselves over the pier where they would be so panicky that they would instantly drown. Version three: the person's hormones would come alive, smack them in the face and jump the delicious hunk of merman. All of this hypothetical of course. Malik would never think of doing any of those three especially not the last, nope, never. Maybe the fact that he already knew merpeople existed helped in his reaction a bit. Okay, a lot but that is not the point here. The point here is that Malik surprised himself by the casual way he was handling this situation. It wasn't every day that a merperson jumps out of the water, almost squeezes you to death, and starts hitting on you in a most obvious manner. It didn't help that he thought the merman was really hot.

Almost as if those words hit an inner switch, the merman frowned and narrowed his darkly shinning eyes. Human-pretty was seeing another merman. A growl grew from the back of his throat, jealousy and rage bubbling inside and he did nothing to restrain them. Human-pretty was cheating on him? It didn't occur to him that he wasn't even dating the other. He didn't think to wonder how human-pretty knew another merperson when there were very -very- few of them that would be voluntarily seen by humans. All he cared about at this very moment was that the beauty he had spotted just said that he was going to see another merman. He should be the only merman human-pretty should be seeing. HIM!

"Who?" the merman growled so dangerously that Malik felt himself freeze in mid-shuffle. He had a feeling that the merman was not as happy as he was a few seconds ago. The fact that the merman's nails were digging deep scars into the wooden boards did not help.

"Who what?" Malik asked, momentarily startled by the weird turn about of the merman's mood. All are merpeople this moody? Bakura was at least. That guy went from passive to raging in nanoseconds.

A sharp slap was heard as the merman's fin was brought down to smack hard against the pier deck, the thin cartilage vibrating from the power behind the force of the blow. Malik jumped in surprise. He also noticed that the merman's eyes flashed briefly with a bright brown and was instantly reminded of Ryou told him of Bakura's eyes when they flashed sliver. Was this the same thing? If it was then he would say his prayers to Ra and Isis and throw himself overboard to the mercy of whatever swam the waters.

"Who is this other merman?" Marik hissed out and struggled to contain his magic from leaking out just in case it would somehow hurt human-pretty. He would tear the other merman **apart**. Slowly and painfully with blood painting the floors. It was his specialty according to many of his victims.

"Um," Malik said, unsure of what to do. He didn't expect his words to receive this kind of reaction from the merman. He looked pissed. Why? Was it because… Malik huffed as his eyebrows shot all the way to his hairline in disbelief. This merman who had just jumped him mere minutes ago was now- dare he say it?- jealous when he mentioned Bakura. They had just met each other for less than ten, no, make that five minutes. He didn't even know the other's name. Either all mermen were bound to latch onto one human or they just liked to pick one out and get all weird with them. Just look at Bakura if you don't believe him. That guy obviously whished he had a few more eyeballs to look at Ryou from. Okay…Bakura with twelve eyes doesn't look so hot anymore. Bad image erase now.

"He's just a friend," Malik said pathetically and shrugged in confusion. Then he looked straight at the merman, who was snarling and pushing himself up with his elbows. Malik pointed at him. "And I'm not telling you anything! How do I know you're not going to kill me or something?" Weirder things had happened before, believe him.

The merman shot him a taken aback look, telling him that his question had startled him from his rage. Thank Ra for that. Malik shivered slightly as the breeze ruffled his wet clothes. The wind seemed colder than before, probably because the sun was barely peeking over the horizon line, painting the sea with gold and fiery colors over watery hues. The sky was a deep purple now with blue and some of the fading sunlight shone like a lone beacon of a lighthouse on a faraway shore. Faint starlight could be see if one squinted hard enough at the darkening sky above them and the outline of a crescent moon was being traced with the paintbrush of the night, ready for another twist of the hourglass of watching the sleepers of earth. Back in Egypt there would be more light at this same time but here there was a sense of peace, of knowing that he was protected here and he would never be locked away. He unconsciously touched his face, right under his eye, were a thick black line was painted around his eye like eyeliner. He shivered again harder but not with cold this time. He had to get back before it got really dark. Then he would be in serious trouble.

Marik observed his human-pretty shiver and rolled his shoulders, feeling the 'air' around him turn colder. It didn't really bother him. Down in Taikai it was way colder than this, seeing as it was near the bottom of the ocean, near but not quite at the bottom. It was too dark for even merpeople to see accurately down there. The nearest place that there were still some merpeople left was the Chasm of Salain and only one weird old magician lived there. He had tried a few times to swim there on a whim but even he had to go back, seeing as he almost got eaten by some kraken fry the last time. Marik could bet that he could take on cold temperature from the Artic Ocean and still not get frostbite.

He would deal with this other merman later. First he had to get his human-pretty out of the cold.

"Human-pretty, you should get warm," Marik said then smirked as he got an idea. "Why don't you come with me?" he purred. "I can make you warm." He moved one arm and curled his fingers at Malik in a small but inviting 'come to me' gesture.

Warm and sticky, Malik thought dryly then blanched. That did not sound right at all. What had he been watching? Oh, that's right, cable TV. Anyway, Malik felt somewhat touched that the merman cared about his comfort but, like the last comment, totally ruined the effect with what he said afterwards. Malik didn't feel like snuggling up to this strange sea creature after seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when the merman pounced on him from out of nowhere. He wanted to go back to the R.U.S.B.H., unpack his clothes, take a nice hot shower and fall asleep in his warm bed.

"I have to go home," Malik said wearily, all his energy withering away as the day's events caught up to him. He ignored the merman's invitation. "I'm tired and maybe, maybe I'll see you again." Malik sighed then muttered softly under his breath, "Yuugi'll kill me, not to mention I still have to tell Bakura what I found out." Malik inwardly cringed thinking at how Bakura would react to telling him that he knew where the Tablets of Saikigo are but not where the place is. He could not imagine that going over well with the other.

Marik pouted at the thought of his siren leaving him even for a moment. He just found him too. Not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair. And after disobeying Seto's orders too. Not that he obeyed Seto too often. It was way too much fun to see Seto blow his temper and scream at how the world was against him. Seto was always in control and liked to have other people bow to his command. It baffled Marik why Seto would be friends with Marik, Yami, and Bakura since they were a bunch of the biggest rule breakers and rebels in Taikai. Seto was a good friend if not a sarcastic one. Marik thought that Seto's soul was removed to make room for all that sarcasm he constantly expresses. It was like a super power or something because just saying a few lines he can cut someone wide open. Marik would like to hav- Wait one damned second! Did he hear right? Did human-pretty say what he thought he said?

"Hold on," Marik shouted and twisted quickly to fix human-pretty with a disbelieving glance, who huffed again and had a 'what now' look on his smooth features. "Did you say Bakura?"

Malik froze in his spot. What was he suppose to do? This merman said that he knew Bakura but how? Was he one of the ones who hurt Bakura or something? He didn't look like the type to hurt others but he had been wrong before and didn't want to leave it to chance.

"Um, maybe?" Malik said, looking away then finding his courage again. "What's it to you?"

"Are you kidding?" Marik said, his voice rising excitedly in pitch. He couldn't believe that his human-pretty knew where Bakura was after days of searching for the bastard. It was like killing two fish with one lance. "We've been looking for that idiot for days. Seto was going ballistic and Yami almost got us eaten by a shark but that doesn't really matter right now. Where is he?"

Malik barely got enough time to register the words before the merman continued speaking way too fast for his ears and brain to keep up with. "I have to tell them otherwise they bitch and moan about how they did so much and how stupid I am but I'm not. Seto will be pissed because Yami will congratulate me and he hates to be beaten in anything. I think that's why he'll never get laid, because he's too stubborn and competitive and sarcastic. But he's like super smart, his brain almost as big as his ego and that's big let me tell you. I'll just go call them then."

"W-wait!" Malik gasped, putting his hands up but it was too late.

Marik arched his back and his eyes darkened with a fierce red-orange color that turned them a steely bronze-like color. He released his magic in invisible waves and shot then in all directions across the water. The sea rippled as if a sudden wind blew over in all ways, resulting in a circle of little waves, spreading for miles. They were bound to feel that wherever they where. Marik managed to remember that they didn't want any guards in the area to feel his magi signal so he kept it to a minimum even though he went a little overboard in his enthusiasm. He couldn't help it. Just in case, Marik decided to send another so, that way, Yami and Seto would arrive faster. Once finished, he smiled and nodded his head to himself for being such a good detective.

Human-pretty gaped at him, shock covering his lovely features. Obviously he knew Marik did something but didn't know what since his magi wave was invisible like…an air current. Hey, he was getting the hang of this human-land stuff. He should write a book about it someday…Nah, too much work.

"What did you do?" Malik said nervously, looking at his watch. 7:38 pm. Damn, Yuugi will no doubt be freaking out by now. He had no time for this weirdness. He had to get back.

"I sent a magi signal for Yami and Seto," the merman responded cheerfully, doing this weird shuffling/rolling thing on the pier. Malik ventured a guess that he was trying to turn around to look at the ocean.

"Who? Who are Yami and Seto?" Malik said, panic starting to seep into his voice. Oh, holy Ra, Bakura, Yuugi, hell, everyone was going to kill him. And he didn't even know for what but after they were finished with him there wasn't going to be enough of him left to say, "Ow."

"Don't worry, human-pretty," Marik said excitedly, now trying to roll over. It seems that he hasn't mastered the moving on land without legs part. He managed not to yelp as he rolled over to land on his back with a thump and waved his hands in the air. "Help me, human-pretty! I can't move."

"Good," his siren snapped as shock turned into anger. Once again those slim hands were perched on shapely hipbones. "Look I don't know who you are or where the hell you came from but you're suddenly here and you pop up, saying you know Bakura then you bring these…these Yami and Seto people-

"Merpeople," Marik corrected, waving his hands in the air.

"-merpeople, whatever, from that freaky lightshow thing you people- merpeople- do but the point is that your freaking crazy and I'm out of here! Goodbye!"

Malik had enough and he was going back to his friends now! He whirled around, face determined, and marched straight in the direction of his bags. Thanks to the merman's efforts in trying to move in order to see the ocean full on, the path off the pier was free and open. He stomped as fast as he could to his bags, his hair whipping around him dramatically…He was good at this dramatic exiting wasn't he? Anyway, the merman did a really good impression of a goldfish- must run in their genes- and stared speaking fast like he was at a talking marathon.

"Wait you can't go," Marik cried as he reached out and snagged his human's ankle, stopping him and almost making him fall over. The human gasped and shook his foot, trying to get Marik's hand off him but Marik couldn't let human-pretty go. One: he wanted to see human-pretty more and two: he was their only link to finding out where Bakura is.

"Let go of me," Malik said angrily, three seconds way from stomping on the merman's face, handsome as it was. He was pissed. The funny thing was, he didn't know why he was pissed. He had a good day before all this happened, he got good deals on his clothes, and it was shocking but not terribly so when the merman jumped him. Maybe it was the fact that he was tired and didn't want to deal with this nonsense. There was also the deal with his funky feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"But-" Marik said desperately, trying to think of some kind of excuse to keep human-pretty here until the others arrived.

"No buts freak!" human-pretty snapped irritably, dragging his foot back but Marik grimly held on.

Marik couldn't help but feel a bit hurt at human-pretty. He had been called freak a few time, okay, maybe tons of times but just to hear that word come from human-pretty's lovely mouth felt like the sting of a jellyfish, sharp and fast. But…Bakura, they needed to find Bakura. And he really didn't want to use his magic to restrain him. He knew that his magic was a bit…rough and he didn't want to hurt human-pretty.

"Sorry, pretty," he whispered and yanked sharply at the captured ankle. The human gasped as his leg was trust from under him and he collided with the boards (again) roughly, his chin jarring a bolt of pain to his skull.

"What the fuck?" Malik groaned and brought his hand to rub his chin. That was when the real anger and rage burst in him. It had been steadily building inside him as they conversed but now it flowed over the edge. With a cry of rage, he twisted around, his ankle still in the merman's grip, aimed and thrust his foot out right into the merman's face.

Malik waited to hear the satisfying crunch that would signify that his foot had connected with a nose but instead he felt the other webbed hand capture his foot before it collided, bringing it down so that he could hold both of Malik's ankles together like a shackle of a chain. For a second he felt fear consume him like a wave, the foam curling around his insides. But it passed, as it always did, he was use to it after all even if it hadn't happened in a while. He unclenched his jaw which had snapped together painfully when his chin hit the floor. He hoped that his teeth were whole and without cracks. That was it! No more Mr. Nice Blond.

"Let go!" He strained to pull his legs from the restraints but his pervious observation seemed to stand firm. He was strong and packed with raw power. Malik was strong in his own right but he was way out of his league here.

"Stop struggling," Marik hissed nervously, tightening his grip on the captured limbs that he seemed to lack. He would have loved to inspect them further but he had to keep human-pretty from escaping just yet as much as it hurt to see his angry face as the result of Marik's thoughtless reactions. Great, just where had he learned those words? Too big for his liking. Wouldn't want to end up like Seto.

"Stop struggling?" Malik voice rose to a high pitch as he twisted and tried to smash his knee into the merman's face, anything to escape.

Suddenly it happened. It was small but it still happened. He was captured, he was caught, he was…there was no where else to go. He could feel the pressure from his captured ankles travel upwards, constricting him softly but with enough force to make his body freeze. Malik could start to feel the air thickening slightly around him. No, no, breathe. Okay, breathe…in…out…in…out…out...no in, damnit, in…out…okay, okay, it's all good. No, its okay, no, the dark, it's pressing in around him, throbbing like a slowly beating heart, no, stop. Stop. Don't panic, Ra, don't panic. Breathe, idiot, BREATHE. He's not here. He's not HERE! There's no need to panic, no, keep breathing, in…out…in…out…in. His lungs were working now, slowly, pumping air in and out. Yes, okay now. Free, light is bright, there's light everywhere, there's no darkness around, no sliver of light under a gray door.

"Hey, human-pretty?"

He could barely hear the surprised words. Calm down, calm down Malik. He isn't here, you're not there, it doesn't burn, and everything is safe, simply safe and okay. That's right, you're safe here, you're not in Egypt anymore. Friends, yeah, friends. Yuugi will help him, Ryou and Jou, yeah, they're here with him. Here with him.

Okay, now Marik was stating to feel worried. Human-pretty had been thrashing and trying to land a punch on him but, in an instant, he froze, his features covered in shock and his eyes shone faintly of panic. Human-pretty's chest stopped moving up and down and had been wheezing raspy puffs of air. Then it was gone. Human-pretty's body unfroze and laid there on the wooden human construction like he was in shock, his face a touch paler than before.

"Human-pretty?" Marik hesitantly asked, trying to look over the legs he had captured and at his face. It was a bit hard seeing as the human's feet were in his upside down face and his body was laid in front of him. It was rather unnerving seeing him all quiet and breathing hard like this. The human's aura had coiled tightly around his body, like it was trying to suffocate him before releasing him. He had never seen anything like this before. Where was Yami when you needed him?

Gods, he had almost forgotten about those episodes. It had been years since he had had that feeling, he thought that he had finally healed, finally forgotten it. Why did it come back now? This wasn't suppose to be happening again damnit! They were suppose to have disappeared by now. He needs his friends. He needs his sister.

His forced his shaking hands to grab a hold of the wet pier and slowly pushing himself up, breathing shakily and hard. He felt the hands on his ankles loosen then completely let go, leaving the skin feeling hot and tingly. Malik shivered hard, almost throwing him back onto the wooden boards as his hands slipped on the wet surface. Then he felt a webbed hand curl around his forearm and stopped him in mid-air, hair hanging limply off his shoulders. He couldn't bring himself to care that the merman was touching him, he was concentrating on breathing and calming down.

Marik was confused, he really was. He had no idea what to do. Was this something that happened to all humans or just to human-pretty? It had given him somewhat of a fright to see him do whatever that had been. His aura had somehow turned against him, as if it was fighting against its nature. Damn, he wasn't good at this. He had never paid attention to his lessons. The teachers were just too crabby and constantly smacked him on the wrist for not paying attention. It wasn't his fault. Who wouldn't fall asleep at a lecture about the growth rate of ameba? He would have to congratulate that person once he found them. But back to thing at hand.

"Human-pretty? Wake up," Marik said, slightly shaking the human in hopes of getting him back into talking at him. Or yelling at him, either is fine.

Human-pretty blinked, disoriented before the light of realization entered his eyes and a sharp frown that was half-annoyed half-fearful formed his full lips. "Don't touch me!" he shrieked loudly, making Marik release him in shock. He fell with a thud (once more again) on the pier deck. That could not be good for his back.

That defiantly was not good for his back, he thought as a stinging sensation flew up his spine momentarily. It instantly reminded him of what happened when he just turned twelve, on his birthday. Quickly he turned his thoughts away and turned his eyes to glare at the merman who looked really confused now. But who wouldn't feel confused in this situation? Malik had to give him that but that didn't stop the feelings dislike and major irritation brew up, all emotion aimed at the half-fish half-man. He...he somehow brought back something he hadn't had since, at least, two years ago. Shamefully, he felt a thrill of fear shoot down him before it was covered with anger. How dare he get this reaction out of Malik? No one has that right!

"Get away from me," Malik hissed venomously, backing away. His hair was plastered to his face, somehow making him look like an angry tiger. He had never felt such an odd mix of anger and…something else that he didn't like in the least.

The merman blinked and cocked his head in a way that made him look all too innocent and that made Malik's rage grow. Why did he do that? WHY? For a strong scary moment, he hated this merman in front of him with a viciousness that surprised him. Then the hatred vanished but the anger reminded like a cold ice cube in his chest. He thought he was over it, he thought it would be gone. He forced the panic to sink and disappear, to be squished like a vile bug. He was ashamed, felt childish, but he wanted his sister with him, to tell him it was okay and to wrap her arms around him like she use to. But she wasn't here and no amount of wishing could make her materialize in front of him.

Malik scrambled to his feet, not noticing the ripples in the water next to the pier. The merman moved his head away quickly from his waving limbs, not wanting to get hit. Well, that was too bad. Malik would _happily_ decorate the tan skin with blue and black marks. Malik shot one hate filled look at the stunned merman and snarled to himself as he roughly grabbed his bags, the only thing making him recover his bags was the amount of money and some small gifts he picked up for his friends. He snatched up the walkie-talkie as an afterthought.

"Hey where are you going?" Malik heard the curious question being asked behind him and he furiously ignored it. "Hey!" Malik gritted his teeth together and was about to start walking off into the mainland, away from this freak.

Marik was about to shout when a pissed off, forceful, yet very familiar voice spoke, causing human-pretty to freeze.

"

* * *

He hated school work. It was no secret that he detested opening a textbook and jotting down notes on collage-ruled notebook paper that later always looked like chicken scratch. He had no idea how he couldn't read his own handwriting but the piece of paper in front of him was living testimony. No matter how much teachers insisted that it was a good study tool for future exams, he just couldn't see how writing things that he could just read out of the text could possibly help him more. He wasn't allowed to read his notes during a test so it was just as helpful as reading; he had to memorize that material anyway.

He sighed and glared distastefully at the open science textbook in front of him. He was laying stomach-down on his bed, feet hooked over each other in the air, with a grand total of five textbooks on the bed, one open to page 56 under his chin. Pieces of paper, both blank and written on, were scattered along the surface of the bed, littering the golden covers like leaves in a park in mid-fall. His backpack was reclined next to his bed, open and easily available to his hands when he needed something. The window was open, letting in the night air breezes dance across the room and make the pages flutter like they were about to take flight. Truthfully, he wanted them to take flight, anything to make their boring equations and twisting sentences go away. But they didn't so he had no choice but to continue working on this shit.

Jou bit the end on his pen which was already covered with bite marks from previous days. He sighed again. He really wanted to go out and have fun with his buds, this was a vacation after all, but if he didn't finish this work by the start of his junior year then he would have to repeat his sophomore year again and that was not something he wanted to do. One reason was that it would separate him even more from his only true friends and two, the faster he graduated from high school and into a community collage the faster he could get the hell out of his so called home. Unless a rouge scholarship somehow crawled into his lap he had no chance of getting into better collages.

He knew school was important, he always had but he just couldn't learn as easily as the others for some reason. The lectures flew in one ear and out the other no matter how hard he tried to grasp the subject. He wasn't stupid unlike what his grades showed. He may not know in which year Genghis Khan defeated the Jin Dynasty or how to calculate the rate of the carbon dating of carbon dioxide but he had street knowledge, probably more than a boy his age should have. He knew which gangs to avoid, which to trade with, and where cops would show up. The streets were more of a home than his apartment with his father could ever be. His father who, thankfully, still had a job to pay the bills that Jou had to manage and compute, having to leave enough money for the cigars and liquor that his father demanded daily. But the school curriculum didn't appreciate that and the teachers told him so. The only class he did well in was art and that was because there were no tests or lectures to study for most of the time and…he liked to draw. He may not be the best but he enjoyed taking a period out of school to draw portraits of his friends, animals, or anything really. Sometimes he had no clue what he was drawing.

His grades were mediocre at best but he wouldn't have passed this year with all the skipping and detentions he accumulated during the course of the year on top of his grades. He figured that if he didn't learn inside of school then he would just learn outside. He had been in several gangs from the age of eight to fourteen, slowly leaving the calling of the streets as his friends coxed him back into healthier habits but sometimes the call to run and fight was too loud for him to overlook. He loved his friends to death and would gladly take a million hits for them. They had done what no one else had done other than his sister, Shizuka, and he wanted to repay that debt someday.

His dad never cared about his grades and Jou knew that he wouldn't care about what happened to him after he moved out either and Jou was just fine with that. Let the bastard rot in the gutter all alone. Jou hated his father but, strangely, he loved him as well. It was the cursed bond between son and father. His mom had seen what his dad was becoming and divorced him, taking Shizuka with her without further ado. But he never knew why she had left him. Maybe she never cared or maybe she thought that he would survive his dad like Shizuka never could and left him there so his dad wouldn't be alone; guilt was a powerful force. He hadn't seen his sister in two years and his mom in four.

He dropped his gaze to his book, trying to get back on track. He would have failed the year without excuses if it hadn't been for Mrs. Shishou's interference. She had always been one of his favorite teachers and she had been one of the few that actually thought he had potential. She had pulled some impossible stops and pleaded with the principal and his other teachers, using the best of her ability to compromise. Finally, somehow, they all got to a compromise. If he managed to complete all the work he missed out on during the school year when he skipped class or didn't turn in a week before the beginning of the new school year then he would be accepted albeit reluctantly into his third year. He promised furiously that he would do all the work without help from his friends and to the best of his ability when Mrs. Shishou gave him the good news. He should have known it was easier said than done. With his luck he'll be lucky if he finishes halfway into the new school year.

He knew that if he told Yuugi or Ryou they would happily help but he didn't tell them. They would make this so much easier but he promised Mrs. Shishou that he would do this without their help and he didn't take his promises lightly. His friends had already done so much for him, it just didn't seem fair for him to ask them to do this for him. Funny, he never needed anybody before he met his friends but now he did need them. He supposed that he would have been spitting fire and cursing a few years back if he saw himself now. He had changed so much on the outside and a little on the inside. He didn't go and beat up everybody who annoyed or irritated him now.

"Pay attention," Jou snapped to himself and looked at the text, determined to finish the worksheet but his eyes slid towards the clock on the table next to his bed. 7:43 pm. Damn. Had he really been stuck here all day? He was starving, damnit.

"Jou?" Yuugi's voice said from behind the door as a knock was heard. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, ya, jus' a sec," Jou said loudly. He looked over his work, trying to judge if he could stuff everything under his bed before Yuugi came in. He sighed and shook his head, dropping his pen on the open pages. If he was going to spend so much time in here then he might as well tell his friends what he was doing. He knew how much Ryou and Yuugi liked to worry.

"'Kay, ya can come in, Yuge," Jou called out. He pulled his slim body up so that he was sitting cross-legged on the bright colors of his bed.

Yuugi carefully turned the knob in his small hand and pushed open the door. Jou was sitting on his bed with paper and books spread all around him. That was odd. Jou wasn't the type to spend all day in his room reading. He had wondered what Jou was going up here. Ryou had retired to his room, saying that he wanted to catch up on some reading after taking a shower. Yuugi had taken his own shower a few hours ago and was comfortably dressed in his purple and sky blue pajamas, fuzzy dark blue slippers on his feet keeping them warm. Yuugi mentally giggled as he wiggled his toes. He loved the slippers that his grandpa gave him for his last birthday.

"Hey," Yuugi said, smiling warmly as he inched his way inside. He closed the door behind him and walked to Jou, holding his hand behind his back. He noticed that the window was open and shivered slightly as the cold air hit him. His pajamas were made of thin material since he didn't like to sleep too warm.

Jou noticed and reached over to pull the window closed, securing the latch over the sliding frame. Then he plopped back into his bed, the springs making him bounce slightly. "'Ey, yaself," Jou grinned, his shaggy blond hair plummeting to hang down in front of his eyes. He eyed the arm that was held behind Yuugi's back hopefully as if there was a surprise for him.

"What are you doing?" Yuugi asked curiously, looking at the books. He frowned slightly when he recognized his science class textbook. He took mostly AP classes but science was never his strong point so he took normal science. His large eyes swept over the rest of the books, noting the educational titles. Okay, now he was worried. "Why are there our school books here? I thought they didn't give us any summer work." He suddenly panicked at the thought of all the work he was going to have to finish in one and a half months if they did give them summer work. But he thought he listened correctly. Could he have missed something?

"Dere wasn't, Yuge," Jou said quickly as a panicked look swept over Yuugi's face. "Mrs. S just gave meh some extra work ta get ma grades up. Ya'know, for next year."

"Oh," Yuugi said, the frown growing a bit. He knew that Jou had been failing some classes but he had pointedly refused to have Yuugi take time out of helping out in the Turtle Game Shop to tutor him even though he would have done so gladly. "Do you need any help?" he asked hopefully.

Jou inwardly winced; he knew Yuugi would ask that. "Nah, I'm good," Jou said, trying to casually grin. He would have loved help, he couldn't make heads or tails of this, but, as he said before, he would feel guilty taking too much time from what was suppose to be a vacation. "'Ows Ry 'n' Malik doin'?" He said that more to distract Yuugi than anything else.

"Oh," Yuugi said, blinking as he thought. "Well, Ryou is in his room reading like he always is and Malik hasn't come back from his trip to the mall. It's almost eight. Do you think he's alright?" He had been worried ever since 7:30 rolled around. He knew he worried too much; Malik could take care of himself, but still…

Jou snorted. "Sure, but I would worry 'bout da people 'round 'im if I were ya," Jou said, grinning good-naturedly. "Dat guy can turn Motha Teresa inta an axe murder, if ya know wat I mean." His slim hands started to arrange his papers into something that faintly a wind swept pile.

"Malik isn't that bad," Yuugi defended, laughing slightly.

"Den ya haven't seen 'im when som'body eats 'is lentil salad," Jou said, face serious as the corners of his mouth twitched. Jou wondered how Malik got through life eating only vegetables and bread (wheat mostly). He never knew why Malik decided to become a vegetarian but he wasn't complaining since there was more food for him to eat at the end of the day.

At the thought of food, his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast this morning, grumbling. Jou jumped, startled, and wrapped his arms around his midsection. "God, I forgot dat I didn't 'ave any lunch," Jou moaned and swung his legs over the side of the bed, ready to go to the kitchen to see what he could dig up. "'M starving."

"That why I brought you this," Yuugi said, grinning widely and bringing his hidden arm in front of his with a flourish. In his hand he held a plate with what looked like a peanut butter sandwich, cut evenly into two triangles.

"Man, Yuge, I own ya one," Jou said, happily taking the plate from Yuugi. He immediately started stuffing one half into his mouth, bread crumbs raining over his bed and papers without care.

Yuugi giggled and nodded. "Are you going to bed soon?" It was only around eight but he wanted to see if he was needed for a while more. Yuugi didn't know why but he loved to help people.

"Mahbye," Jou managed to say past the food in his mouth. "M jusfft ghoingh tah stfdy bith mhore."

"Sorry?" Yuugi said. On instinct he reached forward and gathered the bread crumbs off the bed covers and pages into a little pile. Yuugi sighed to himself; Jou was so messy sometimes. He looked at the pages discreetly as possible. Most were general physics, reading comprehension, and statistics worksheets though about a quarter of the statistic worksheets were full.

Jou swallowed the big lump in his throat, coughed for a bit then settled down. "I said, 'M just gonna study a bit more. I'll go tah bed 'round may'be nine or som'ding." Jou quickly ate the other half of the sandwich with relish.

"Alright," Yuugi said then looked around nervously. "Malik should have been back by now," he murmured to himself. "Ryou told me Malik had on a walkie-talkie. I'll go call him to see what's up."

"Malik's fine Yuge," Jou said a bit exasperated as he handed Yuugi the empty plate who took it with both hands. "Thanks, dat hit da spot. Anyways, Malik has taken care of 'imself before, Yuge. If 'e was in trouble, which 'e does get inta a lot of da time, 'e would call us, ya knows dat."

"Yeah, you're right," Yuugi said, smiling slightly though Jou could see the concern around the edges. He carefully dragged the pile of crumbs over to the edge of the bed were the plate was waiting to catch them. He made sure not to leave a single crumb unattended. "I worry too much." Never said a truer word.

"'Course 'm always righ't," Jou said smugly, helping Yuugi a bit in trying to coax crumbs into the plate. Most of the crumbs spilled over onto the carpet. Jou made a face as Yuugi softly smacked his hands with a chuckle.

"I'll have to come around with the vacuum tomorrow," Yuugi commented. He walked over the waste basket in the bathroom and tipped the plate over causing the crumbs to cascade into it. He tapped the plate against the side once to make sure it was clean then trotted back to Jou, closing the bathroom door behind him.

"You need anything else?" Yuugi asked, once again looking at the text books.

Jou never liked school as much as he did and sometimes skipped classes but Jou deserved this time to relax before they had to go back home. Jou lead a hard life but at least Yuugi had his grandfather who loved him when Jou only had his sister as true family. Yuugi had met Shizuka once, she came over to spend a few days with Jou for the summer two years ago but, under orders of her mother, she slept in a hotel not with Jou and his father. She was three years younger than Jou and he had never met a more positive and caring person. It was obvious that she worshiped her elder brother and was kind to everyone. Shizuka had been shy in the beginning since she had been born with very bad eyesight and just recently, before the trip, had an operation, leaving her with some damaged self-esteem. Yuugi smiled at the thought of Shizuka and her caring face at everybody. Malik said that Shizuka reminded him of Yuugi but Yuugi disagreed. Shizuka was way more sweet and innocent than he could ever be. Jou was lucky to have a sister like her and he knew it.

"Nah, 'm good, thanks," Jou responded. His brown eyes found the unfinished worksheet he had been working on before Yuugi came to visit him. He really wished that he didn't have to work on his vacation but he knew he wouldn't finish much when he got home. With his dad and summer jobs, he would have little free time and he would spend a majority of that time with his friends.

"Okay then, I'll go no-" Yuugi was saying as a knock on the door interrupted him. Yuugi and Jou both blinked and looked over at the door.

"Jou, Yuugi? Um, I think we have a problem," Ryou said nervously from the hall. He looked down at the walkie-talkie held in his hand apprehensively as it started to blare static voices and the little red light that indicated that someone was speaking on the other walkie-talkie blinked rapidly.

He had been surprised when he went downstairs for a glass of water and heard a weird static-like voice that sounded kind of like Malik's, whispering. Ryou had panicked, immediately thinking that his friend had gotten into come kind of trouble. Ryou tried to contact Malik but all he got now was static and- oddly- the sound of waves filled with chattering little robotic sounding things. So Ryou quickly went to Yuugi's room but found that it was empty. He heard a voice behind Jou's door so he knocked on it, mentally hurrying his friend inside. Even when he was panicking, he still remembered his manners.

"Ryou? Ya come in," Jou called out, frowning at the nervous tremor in Ryou's voice. He put his feet on the carpet and pushed his hair out of his eyes. It was getting to be a nuisance lately; maybe he should get Ryou to cut it for him.

Ryou opened the door and came in, noting that Yuugi was here as well. Ryou saw that Jou's bed was covered with book and papers and felt faintly curious but this wasn't the time to ask.

"What's up?" Yuugi asked just as the walkie-talkie came to life. A high pitched wail vibrated the walkie-talkie and rang in the air, making Yuugi gasp and back away, pressing his palms against his ears.

"Wat the hell is dat?" Jou said loudly over the wail which had turned into something like a bunch of drowning chipmunks arguing loudly into a faulty microphone.

"I don't know," Ryou shouted, holding the shaking communicator at arm-length, shielding his ears as best as he could with his free hand. "It just started beeping and wailing when I came downstairs."

It stopped wailing for a moment and the three boys gave thankful sighs before that little red light started to flash rapidly in various random patterns and the number on the screen which told in which channel that walkie-talkie was wired to started to switch as if it couldn't decided which channel it was on. The volume bars on the side started to behave oddly was well, going from high to low on its own. Ryou gasped as it vibrated so hard he was forced to drop it onto the floor. It vibrated on the carpet, jumping at least a half a foot in the air with the force of its vibration. Yuugi backed away from it as it jumped his way, moving closer to Jou, who stood up and moved both Ryou and Yuugi behind him, away from the vibrating little black object.

Ryou grabbed Jou's sleeve and tugged, making Jou look at him. "How do we turn it off?" he asked, looking over Jou's shoulder.

"You turn a knob on the top next to the black antennae," Yuugi explained, knowing about these things since he helped out at the Turtle Game Shop and some shipments were walkie-talkies. "I think."

"Okay, if dat ding kills meh in a flash o' light'ning den yar responsible o' my funeral," Jou said seriously, making Yuugi and Ryou gape at him, eyes wide. Gah! Double the eyes! "'M kiddin' guys."

Jou observed the energetic walkie-talkie that was jumping around in circles for about ten minutes, studying it suspiciously like it would bite him. Then he dived at it, aiming to clutch it tightly with both hands. His hands vibrated ferociously as he fought to keep a hold on it. Damn, how could a thing this small be so strong? He felt like his hands were holding their own earthquake, threatening to rattle his brain out of his ears. There was no way he was going to be able to clutch it with only one hand so he speedily brought it close to his face and managed to get his teeth around the knob Yuugi illustrated. It was damn hard trying to keep his eyeballs in their sockets while turning the walkie-talkie in his grasp so that his teeth turned the knob. Jou silently cursed as he felt the walkie-talkie start to slide from his sweaty clutch.

"Jou?" Yuugi said startled as Ryou gasped, hand clutching the sides of his face. Oh, he should have never brought that thing to his friends.

"Careful," Ryou whispered.

Jou would have answered if his mouth had not been busy. He managed to almost turn it all the way, it kept vibrating in the opposite direction. Just as it was going to click off, a sudden blast of high-pitched static-y shriek came and, being too close to the speakers on the side, Jou jerked his head away, gasping at the onslaught on his ears. Luckily, the movement of jerking his head away forced the knob to click and the walkie-talkie finally fell silent and unmoving.

"Gah," Jou whimpered as he drop the walkie-talkie and furiously rubbed his ears, trying to stop the loud ringing. "Shit, I dink 'm deaf."

Yuugi sprang forwards and carefully removed Jou hands, tilting his head so he could see. "I think its fine," Yuugi said slowly, professionally checking to see where any damage could have been done. He couldn't check much without an otoscope but there were no visual damage as far as he could see. That thing had been going at a really high pitch that could damage something. "Do you hear me okay?"

"I can hear ya but da ringin' ain't doin' any favors," Jou grimaced as he shook his head once Yuugi removed his hands. What the hell had Malik been doing with that thing to make it do that?

"Don't worry it should go away in a while," Yuugi said. His large purple eyes glanced at the walkie-talkie on the carpet as if it was a cockroach that had just crawled out of the sewer. "Do you think it was a malfunction or Malik was doing something to it?"

"It worked fine before," Ryou commented, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "It worked perfectly fine before today." The pair of walkie-talkies had been his from when he saved his allowance to communicate with his friends when they were younger. "But what in the heavens could Malik do to it to make it do that? I never heard of something like that happening to a walkie-talkie." He gave the others a helpless expression. "What can we do?"

"We should find Malik anyways," Jou said. The ringing had decreased a bit and Jou crossed his arms across his chest, shaking his head from time to time. "We don't know wat could 'ave 'appened ta 'im." With all the past experiences they had been in, anything could be possible. Not to mention a whole new door was opened when Ryou went on that morning walk.

"But we don't know where he is," Ryou said softly, looking out the window. He saw their backwards reflections on the glass but there were only three of them in the room, one missing. "He went to the mall but it should be closing right now. Maybe the traffic is bad and he is still in a cab?"

"May'be," Jou said doubtfully, scratching the back of his head. The ringing was slowly going away. "I 'ave a bad feelin' 'bout dis guys. Malik al'most neva stays out dis late 'cause of… ya know."

"The only way to contact him is through that," Yuugi said, hesitantly pointing at the walkie-talkie on the ground. Was it possessed or something? "If we turn it on will it do that screech again?"

"Well, only one way ta find out," Jou said doggedly. He was not going to risk his friends' safely with that thing so it was going to be him that would turn it on. And he just managed to turn it off too.

Jou nudged the walkie-talkie with his foot but nothing happened so he hesitantly bent down to pick it up, holding it gingerly like it would jump and snarl at him. It looked perfectly innocent like it hadn't been screaming like a banshee that swallowed several amplifiers a few minutes ago. Jou knew that his friends were right. This was the only way to find out if Malik was okay or maybe it just was a freaky malfunction.

"'Kay, 'm goin' ta turn it on now," Jou warned the others and both teens plugged with ears with their fingers, dutifully staying in case Jou fell unconscious from the blast of sound.

Here goes nothing, Jou thought and fingered the knob for a few seconds before he grabbed it and twisted it. On. And nothing. Jou frowned; he had been expecting something more ear-splitting. He checked the volume bar and put it on to a rational volume, seeing as it was really low from its last freak out. He pressed the side button and spoke into it.

"Yo, anyone out dere?"

* * *

Yami had seen many things in his seventeen years of life. He is- or was- the apprentice of the Court Magician and Librarian so he had seen many of the experiments his mentor had dabbled with in looking for way to better use their magic for the benefit of the kingdom, the successful ones and the failed ones as well. Once, in order to bring more fish to the kingdom's winter storages, Mahado created a magical pulse fused with the call of the dolphin to attract them. It did bring more fish to Taikai but it also tinkered with the direction of the ocean currents so instead of the warm summer waves they got Artic winter waves, along with some recluse walruses. They got some protests from that fanciful summer.

He had seen spells where they caused someone's hair to change color and, depending on the color, move (Once Mana's hair turned red and tried to suffocate her. They had to cut almost all of it off in order to save her.) Yami had the pleasure of seeing a lobster with two tails and one claw go insane and swim frantically in hexagons. Now that gave him some nightmares for a while. And he still had weird images in his head when they served lobster at dinner.

Of course let him not forget who he hung around with most of the time. They got into some pretty odd situations over the years, causing the king to confine Bakura more than once. Most of the time Bakura got grounded but, when something really got out of hand, he got confined. He was shut in his room with closed windows and doors, extra guard rotations and magical barriers. Yes, the doors and windows were locked with heavy-duty chains and locks. Sometimes Yami thought that Bakura went overboard but it's not like Bakura listened to him most of the time even if he was his best friend. Yami and Bakura had some things in common like both were reckless (though Bakura was more than Yami), proud, and stubborn, almost hard-headed.

Yes, he had seen many things but he had to admit that this scene in front of his eyes was one that did not expect to see ever.

He had been doing what he was supposed to do, checking out the west coast for anything. Just to be thorough enough, he sent several probes in all directions with magi lines connected to know where they were going. Sometimes he was happy of his education under Mahado. About two hours into the search, Yami noticed that one of the magi lines wrapped around his fingers (they were easier to keep track of that way and they wouldn't desegregate without his knowing) had the barest traces of pale yellow, almost nonexistent. Yami noted that the probe attached had gone north and sighed. What had Marik done now? It probably was some random thing anyway.

Yami had actually snarled when he got a really strong magi signal in the direction from Marik and another one immediately after, making his magi lines glow a strong white color. Marik definitely wanted to get their attention. Yami had changed his course and swam right, back north. He went straight forward, cutting through the loops and curves he made before in order to get a good look around the area. He knew that Seto was already on the way. He was such a perfectionist.

He had been about a quarter of a mile from where the signals had come from when he spotted something. There had been something sticking out of the ground. Yami had narrowed his eyes and quickly took a few seconds to investigate. His eyes had widened alarmingly as he found the short but thick wooden end of a spear that belonged to the Royal Guard. Could they have sensed Marik's magi signal? It was possible. Stupid Marik, he didn't have to send two blasts. That just made the first signal push the second even farther into the ocean.

And Yami wondered why he let Marik go off alone.

Yami had grown even more alarmed as he got closer. He had registered Seto's restrained magi near the surface and he faintly heard Seto's voice. He did not sound happy. Yami had been above the surface twice before in his life, more time than a great majority of the merpeople population had. Mahado had gotten King Tsuyoi to allow him and his apprentice, Yami, with their assistant, a lively mermaid named Mana, to observe the conditions of magic above the surface. The first time they had been driven back by a passing-by ship, who, thankfully, didn't spot them. The second time they got luckier and spent around two hours out of the water.

Yami had swam upwards and spotted Seto's saffron blue tail, his upper half out of the water near a wooden human construction with looked like the pictures of a bridge he had seen from one of his books. Expect this one didn't connect to anything; it just stopped a few feet from the shore. Maybe it was a viewing platform? And what was Seto doing out of the water? Yami faintly heard Seto's angry, heavy voice and, not surprisingly, Marik's as well. But he didn't see Marik's tail or any part of him in the water so it's only possible that he…

The idiot somehow got himself out of the water.

And according to his probes, there were more than two entities around that bridge-thing. Who or what did the other aura belong too? Well, there was only one way to find out. He put on a burst of speed and broke the surface silently, letting his probes trail around the water and the shore. They were too far away from King Tsuyoi's castle so the surface was weaker and easier to break through than if he was right above Taikai.

"_I can't believe you, imbecile! I told you not to! Now where all in danger not only from the Royal Guard but now from humans as well." _Yami heard Seto's furious voice, cold and dark.

Yami felt his gills flutter for a few seconds before flattening against his skin. He blinked the water out of his eyes and pushed his blond bangs out of the way. The lack of light wasn't helping him to see well. It took his eyes a while to adapt to the dryness.

"_Seto, you're scaring him, shut up, and look how cute he is!" _That was definitely Marik's voice and he didn't sound too happy either.

"_Do you think I care? He's just a worthless human. One you should not have been seen by, mush less interacted with!" _

"_Watch your mouth, Seto." _There was true malice in those words.

Yami raised an eyebrow at the scene. On the wooden square supported by twin pillars jutting from the sea floor was Marik. He had gotten his whole body out of the water, his stomach on the platform. His dusty spikes were a bit droopy, water droplets traveling down his face, meaning that he had been out of the water for a while. Marik's face, by the way, was set in a threatening manner, eyes narrowed and fangs bared in an aggressive style that Yami thought of as a first or second warning, depending on his mood that day. He looked even more deranged and angry than usual.

Seto had one of his palms on the edge of the platform, nails digging into the wood while the other was under the water. The tendons in his arm strained meaning that he was angry but was forcefully keeping himself in check. His mop of dark brown hair dripped water down his wet chest. His azure eyes were blazing and cold, his lips pressed into a taunt line with a fang peaking over a bottom lip.

Neither party looked happy, eyes digging into each other with a fury that Yami had only seen rarely. Seto was usually cold and composed and Marik was just odd and cheerful in his own…odd way. The shadows of the dying day on the scene helped the overall aura of a fight about to break. What that heck made Marik jump onto the deck like that? He was impulsive but this just went over and above the usual.

"_Marik, do you not know what this could mean?" _Seto said slowly as if talking to an idiot. His eyes were sharp enough to cut rocks and his voice was emotionless and positively arctic. Any sane person on the receiving end of the stare would turn tail and evacuate the premises pronto.

"_No why don't you tell me?" _Marik said, sarcasm dripping from his lips as they stretched to accommodate a snarl.

"_Humans have been after merpeople for eons, asswipe,"_ Seto told the other, leaning forward ominously. _"If this one goes and tells then not only us but every merperson in the oceans will be in danger." _It was unlikely that the other humans would believe this one even if he told but this should not have happened in the first place. That was what really irked him.

"_He won't tell,"_ Marik said smugly like he had proven some impossible point beyond all reason of argument.

"_And why the hell wouldn't he?" _Yami could practically feel the ice particles crystallizing around them. _"He's a human, it's what they do. Destroy others." _

"_I'm going to destroy you if you don't shut the hell up!" _Marik shouted, eyes flashing. He shifted to the right as Yami observed, covering something that Yami couldn't see from his position.

His probes had picked up three auras so the third one should be around here. Yami eyed the tense atmosphere around the two and decided to stop them before he was two friends short. Don't get him wrong, he was angry at Marik too for doing such a stupid thing in a time they could not afford it. And Seto was going to blame him for this, he just knew it. He accepted responsibility for it after all. Another proof of his recklessness. He had to learn to think before opening his mouth.

"_Alright, everybody calm down here,"_ Yami said loudly, creating the international 'time out' sign, making a 't' with both hands and propelling himself forwards, closer to the scene. Instantly, two pairs of eyes, blue and purple, focused on him with an intensity that would have cracked a chunk of black lava.

"_Yami, where have you been?" _Seto gritted out, eyeing the magi lines attached to the top parts of Yami's fingers, above the webbing. Most of the lines were colored a dull orange so they had to be attached to probes. Seto momentarily forgot about his anger as he felt around for the magi signals of the probes. He focused and found at least eight probes floating in a diameter of twenty feet from them. He sensed really weak signals farther out in the ocean and closer to shore. Yami was lucky that they gave off really weak signals and that he had such control over his magic otherwise he could have been felt from miles away.

"_Yami! About time, tell Seto to fuck off," _Marik said severely, pointing a finger at Seto, who turned to scowl treacherously at him.

"_Tell him yourself," _Yami scowled as well at the other. He wasn't taking orders from them. He only took them from Mahado and, sometimes, not even him.

"_Fine, I will!" _Marik said, entering the scowl fest and turning to Seto, apparently immune to the death glare. _"Fuck off. He's mine." _Marik prided himself on his straightforwardness.

"_Are you mentally screwed up?" _Seto growled incredulously. He pointed to something over Marik's shoulder, out of Yami's view. _"Don't bother answering that. You can't claim him! He's a fucking human. For Jupiter's sake, get that through your thick skull before I forcefully do it!" _

The human's still around? Yami wondered what the human would still be doing around. It was only common sense for the human to hightail it out of there with two heated merman at each other's throats because him. Of course not many people have common sense if you look over what they have done over the oceans like oil leaks, over fishing, etcetera. In fact if it wasn't for the merpeople fixing those mistakes then the ocean would have been in a shoddier condition. But back to the matter at hand.

"_As if you could, know-it-all!" _Marik shouted, half-lunging at the other merman. The only thing that stopped him was the boards and the dryness that didn't let him go forwards.

"_I'll kill you!" _Seto said loudly, moving backwards a bit when Marik lunged them then swiped at the other with open hands. Marik reared his head back to dodge it but was a tad too slow as Seto's nail left a thin scratch across his cheek.

Marik slapped the boards with his fin and lunged again, this time managing to get within reach of Seto. Seto moved backwards but it didn't matter because Marik's hands curled on Seto's shoulders Marik's body had more momentum than expected and pushed both of them back into the ocean, roaring in indignation. With a flourish of white bubbles they sank into the water, twisting and aiming to disembowel each other.

"Psst!...…..shit…(bang)…guys…(whack)…damn walkie-talkie!...Please!...(thump thump)...I don't want to die young!"

Yami heard the words of an unfamiliar voice and send a tendril of magic into the water to make sure the human didn't get away (wherever he was) as an afterthought. Quickly, he ducked back into the water, ordering all his probes except one to dissolve into the surf. He wouldn't have the power to control all of them if he had to deal with both his friends at the same time. Damn both of them! He quickly search the seas, knowing that the longer he took in finding them, the more damage they were going to do on each other. Seto usually wasn't the one to get violent but that didn't mean he wasn't a handful to stop when he did.

He spotted the two mermen sinking through the dark waters towards the sandy bottom, bubbles rising in the opposite direction. This was not good. Marik had one of Seto's arms in his mouth, right below the elbow, and was biting almost hard enough to break the bone. Seto had his face in a grimace but in retaliation, wrapped his tail around Marik's shorter one and squeezed firmly like he was trying to fuse Marik's scales together painfully. One hand was around Marik's neck, covering the gills as Marik's face slowly turned purple with the lack of oxygen.

Hint: If you're going to fight Seto know that he always aims for your vitals.

Shit, well, he supposed he should do something. Yami shot towards them and rapidly thought of a way to separate both without killing himself. Oh, what the hell. Yami drew short of both and extended his palm towards Seto and Marik, both of who crashed into the sand. Seto had hooked some fingers in Marik jaw and pried it open, leaving bleeding indents in his arm. Marik was now trying to bite down on Seto's fingers but he retraced them so all Marik got was a pain in his jaw. Marik roared and twisted with Seto's death grasp on his gills, desperately trying to get loose. An elbow crashed into Seto's stomach which jarred him, giving Marik the opportunity to throw himself into the ocean bottom, lifting pounds of sand into the water.

"_What part of CALM DOWN did you two not understand?" _Yami shouted and curled his fingers slightly.

Marik looked over at Yami, startled because he forgot he was there. Seto saw the chance to end this fight in his favor and swam right at Marik, intent on winning. But that the sand exploded underneath him and reached up like the grains had taken life and was intent on revenge. The extension of multicolored sand wrapped around Seto's midriff and arms, plastering them to his sides. Marik started laughing at Seto's indignant expression when several columns of sand rose up and corralled him into a sandy cocoon.

"_Hey!" _Marik whined, barely visible through the mountains of sand around. Only one purple eye could be seen through a small hole. Yami thought that it would be better safe than sorry.

"_Yami, if you value your life, you will let me go,"_ Seto said, coldly not moving. Yami observed him thoughtfully and warily before deciding that he was not going to lacerate anyone and unclenched his fingers, letting the gold sand crumble down like a waterfall. It mixed with the rest of the grains. Seto shot him a glare then dusted off the leftover sand of his person. Then he drew himself up and crossed his arms, looking nothing worse for wear.

"_Yami, let me go," _Marik demanded, wriggling around in the tight confinement. The recluse eye blinked at him.

"_Fine but keep your distance," _Yami said. He knew he shouldn't but he found this situation kind of amusing. He dropped his hand, with it, all the sand around Marik, who cheered and shook his head, sand falling from his hair.

"So what's going on?" Yami asked, dropping Meridian as he looked expectantly at both mermen.

"So as smart as you are you didn't figure it out?" Seto sneered, anger returning to his voice along with iciness.

Yami's eyebrow twitched. "No why don't you tell me," he said with forced politeness through gritted teeth. He had the basic idea but he wanted to now the whole story before assuming anything.

Seto smirked then opened his mouth but Marik swam in front of him, startling Seto, making him frown severely. He apparently wasn't in the best of moods.

"Everything was fine until Seto came and scared human-pretty," Marik said touchily, glaring at Seto who looked back evenly. Marik growled and his fist twitched. No one makes his human-pretty frightened like that. Not even him! Well, that already happened but not anymore! Marik vowed right here and now to make sure his human-pretty will be content and happy if he has anything to do with it. Yes…that will do.

"You were the one who called us in the first place," Seto said indignantly. "I specifically told you not to do anything you would have done. But you had to go and do it anyway. Yami this is all your fault," he deadpanned just as Yami expected though hoped he wouldn't.

"How is this my fault?" Yami asked, planting both palms where his scales turned into skin.

"You took responsibility for it so it is your fault," Seto asserted, smirking and swishing his fin. "This is all redundant to the situation anyway. What happened was that Marik thoughtlessly appeared before a human because, and I quote, 'He was just too cute and I want him' end quote. We have to fix this because this brain dead obviously cannot do it and it could turn disastrous." Seto was actually kind of worried to what this may lead to but he hid it, not caring to show something that could be turned against him.

"It could but I somehow doubt it. After all, merpeople couldn't have hidden from humans forever. There have been cases where humans have seen us and told but nothing bad has happened since the olden times," Yami pointed out. "Other than those sinking capsule things floating around everything has been fine for us." The wonders of reading boring books.

"True," Seto admitted then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "But that has been because humans need some kind of physical and reliable proof to confirm our existence. Once they get it we'll be in trouble, not bodily though since our magic would be enough to divert their technology."

"Right, so that human could yell about it from high heavens and no one of importance would believe him not to mention he would be labeled as a nutcase," Yami said, a triumphant smile forming. "I doubt the human had enough time to get something from Marik, right?" He looked at Marik for confirmation.

Marik frowned then shrugged, uninterested in the direction this conversation was going. "Don't think so," was his only comment before he fixed his eager but disappointed gaze at the surface. Human-pretty must have gone by now… Sadness.

"'Don't think so' he says," Seto muttered distastefully. "There's no way we can check now. He must have been gone at the first opportunity."

Yami smirked widely and crossed his arms, copying Seto's deportment. "Unlike someone, I made sure Marik's little, um, guest didn't go anywhere so he's still stuck up there." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the pier.

Seto grunted and uncrossed his arms. He grudgingly admitted the Yami did well in thinking ahead but it didn't matter much anyway. As soon as he neared the pier and saw the human he had created a barrier around the space but, unfortunately, thanks to a tackling purple mackerel he only had time to finish half of it. Yami's spell helped to keep him in place while his made it difficult for anyone to approach the pier. A good combination. He just mentioned the human getting away to see how Marik would react.

"Yes!" Marik suddenly hissed joyously like he had been given the best present ever. "Human-pretty is still with Marik!" Yami and Seto just stared at him oddly and a bit freaked out.

"Wait Mar-" Seto said hastily, anticipating Marik's reaction but all that was left in his spot was a flurry of white bubbles. "-ik," he finished, sighing.

"Let's go find him," Yami said exasperatedly. Seto shook his head but followed Yami as they made their way back to the pier, slower than Marik, each thinking their own thoughts.

Seto's mind was filled with plans on what to do with each possible situation that may arise out of this predicament. This may somehow turn to their advantage if the human may have valuable information on the whereabouts and layout of the land. They had no time to pick up maps or locating devices to make sure they weren't heading into dangerous territory like the main cities of the other kingdoms. The kingdoms were obligated to capture and transport any outlaws to the mother nation, Taikai, for trail and penalty by the Council. That couldn't end well for them especially since they hadn't found Bakura yet to back them up and give them some inside power as prince. King Tsuyoi would overrule in the end but maybe their punishment would be less severe. They weren't going to be captured; they had too much at stake.

Yami was worried. He usually didn't worry too much, it wasn't in his nature but this was staring to get out of hand. They had to deal with the humans and the Royal Guard at the same time. They could only do so much before they went down. They would all go down fighting but down all the same. The memory of the chessboard and that Captain kept nagging at him. He didn't know why but it seemed important for them and what was to come. Mahado had always told him that he had a good sense of promotion and most of what he felt usually came true one way or another. The feelings he had about the human, Bakura's wound, the Captain, and their future, were obscure but strong. Something big was going to happen and they were going to be caught in the middle of it. But that thing that really worried him was the feeling that they weren't going to be the only ones in this whole mess. He got goose-bumps all over his arms; that was never a good sign. Stop it, he told himself. The only thing he could do is go with what fate decides.

* * *

Why did all the weird things happen to him? Here he had been happily minding his own business, shopping and looking over the sunset, happily existing in his normal life on his way to the R.U.S.B.H. for a good night's sleep. He would have just gotten up from the pier, grabbed his bags and gone on his merry way. But life had to throw _another_ curve ball at his already curved up life.

The first weird thing happened to Ryou. A weird, fishy thing but a good opportunity for the little tyke. The second weird thing happened again to Ryou and he gained a cool looking accessory. He had the pleasure (not) to receive the third weird thing if you count being ambushed by a merman, almost having a heart attack, then, pop, out of nowhere came another merman with cold eyes that almost made his wet his pants as a weird thing.. So, then the shouting match sprouted like someone let the dogs out. To make matters even more uncomfortable they were shouting at each other in that weird language Bakura spoke briefly in, occasionally pointing at him.

Of course during said shouting match he hadn't been staring with his mouth open, doing nothing. As soon as he recovered from the shock, he made himself as small as possible and tried to sneak off the pier ninja-like but he must have been spotted because as soon as he inched backwards he hit a wall of thick jelly or something that stopped him from escaping. He felt like was trying to swim through Jell-o. Curse them and their freaky light show! How was he supposed to fight this off? The answer: he couldn't. Unless human had a similar power that they hadn't discovered yet. So with that thought in mind, unnerved heart, and wanting to get off the pier, he concentrated as he never concentrated before to shatter the undetectable barrier of jelly. He called upon all his inner power, determination shone in his eyes and the wall of jelly…did not go away when he ran into it seconds later.

Malik glared at it, wherever it was, glanced at the two mermen, and quickly but quietly chose the farthest corner away from both, sitting down next to his bags which he had almost forgotten in the confusion. His gaze found the walkie-talkie lying there so innocently and Malik thanked Ryou for his smart thinking, grabbing it swiftly.

The brown haired merman that sprouted out of nowhere was hissing at his look-alike with a cold tone and digging his nails into the pier. He wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that stare, that's for sure but the other was giving as much as he received, snarling and making angry gestures. The speech was doing something to his hearing, like his ears were plugged or were filled with water, making it uncomfortable and the loudness probably contributed to it.

Malik sunk lower and cradled the walkie-talkie like it was the most precious thing on earth. He discreetly turned it on, turning the knob. He hoped that it was on the right channel. He saw the purple-eyed merman shift over so that he was blocked from the blue-eyed merman's sight. It was kind of endearing how he would put himself in front of Malik and, for a second, he felt a nice warmth bloom in his chest then he remembered he was the one who made his reencounter something he thought had gone away, disappeared years ago. Damn it. Now he felt depressed.

A new voice said something in the fishy language and Malik inwardly groaned. How many of these guys were there? Was there some big conspiracy here to drive him insane? Aha! Maybe Jou is behind all this…nah. He couldn't see who the new arrival was because of Marik's bulk in front of him.

Suddenly, the violet-finned merman shouted loudly, slapped his fin loudly against the boards and threw himself at the blue-eyed merman. There was a thunderous splash as both bodies hit the water and sank rapidly, water churning as they moved violently. That knocked him out of his stupor.

"Psst!" he whispered urgently into the walkie-talkie, pressing the side button. When he got no answer he started to get worried. "Shit." He hit the walkie-talkie against the pier. "Guys." What was the matter with this thing? Was it broken? He banged it again. "Damn walkie-talkie…Please!" In desperation he whacked it twice in a row. "I don't want to die young!" Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red and black then another splash was heard.

He sighed, frustrated with the damn machine and glared at it. He felt something cold curl around his ankle and he snapped his head down immediately. A thick tread of water had risen from the lapping water and wrapped around his ankle. He pulled his leg away but the liquid held on to him determinedly. Malik glowered at it. It wasn't wet but it was very cold.

The silence was unnerving after all the noise. Malik felt his heart speed up in his chest as he looked at the dark, dark waters, lapping gently against the pier. The sun had completely set, leaving pinpricks of lights to shine dimly in the sky. Malik wrapped his arms around his frame as cold air attacked his skin. He hated the dark. He hated the silence and the far off light. He wanted his sister, his friends, his home, his bed. He took a shaky breath and told himself not to break down. He was sixteen for Ra's sake. He was old enough not to cry like a little kid whenever things didn't go his way. Malik has been through worse situations than this so this should be no problem. Get yourself together, man.

His wary eyes looked over the lapping waves, lulling him a bit. His wasn't as bad as it could be, he supposed. Kind of calming, the waves were but it was still so creepy being out alone in the night. He was never alone at night. He didn't like being alone. It made him…lonely. And brought back…

Well, he was stuck here until they came back or something. He wasn't sure whether he wanted them to come back. For one, they would hopefully let him go but that would mean he would have to see them again. All those mermen made him feel uncomfortable and weak. He glowered. This was known as a win-lose situation. He didn't like win-lose situations. He didn't go well in win-lose situations because he somehow always got the lose part of the situation. Maybe it was karma finally going out to get him. Snort, yeah right.

To pass the time until something happened, he snooped in his bags, checking to make sure everything was in top order. Shirts, check. Shorts, check. Sandals, check. Book, check. Album, check. Spare money, check. Wallet, check. Green bag, check. Blue bag, check. Useless walkie-talkie, check. Boredom, check. Coldness, check. Going insane, check.

"Human-pretty!" Weird, annoying merman, check.

He saw the merman's spikes stick out of the water a spilt second before he did. He saw the large grinning face break the surface of the water. His hands gazed the pier's surface as he swam around it, wanting to get closer to Malik and Malik, well, he couldn't move much. The most he could do was to scoot back and even that was limited. That warm insane spark was back in the merman's eye and that unnerved him a bit. He spread his arms out like he wanted Malik to jump into them. Tough luck.

"You're still here," he said happily, waving his empty hands.

"It's not like you gave me any choice," Malik snapped, gesturing to the water tendril around his ankle and then to the general area of the jelly wall. Crap, now he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"We weren't supposed to give you any anyway." The blue-eyed merman rose from the water menacingly like the Lock Ness Monster. He gave Malik a distasteful stare and crossed his arms across his muscled chest.

"Leave him alone!" The purple-eyed merman snapped at the other, annoyance lacing is features.

"Do I have to restrain both of you again?" the third voice said from next the brown haired merman. Hey, he looked like Yuugi! Except he had blond that stuck up and intelligent red eyes on top of a sharp chiseled tanned face. Will wonders never cease? "We still have things to do, Seto, remember?" He tried to look stern but the corners of his lips were threatening to break into a smirk.

"I don't have to be reminded Yami," Seto said, giving Yami a look. "But we have to fix this." 'This' was apparently Malik as Seto pointed.

Malik was about object being talked about as an thing but the purple-eyed merman cut in first. "Seto you better not be talking about hurting him," he said warningly.

"Don't be joking," Seto said frowning. "I wouldn't touch a human anyway. What were you thinking when you went and pulled this stunt, Marik?"

"Nothing really," Marik said, shrugging then attempted to get closer to Malik but was stopped by the pier. Thank God. Then suddenly his eyes lit up as a thought could be seen tumbling around in his head. It was freaky. "Hey! I just remembered something human-pretty said." Being called that was getting irritable now. He was not pretty, he was good looking. There's a difference, he'll have you know.

"What? Something stupid like what his species are?" Seto said scathingly, running a hand through his hair.

Malik bristled like an angry cat. So this guy thinks he's so high and mighty does he? "Could you not talk about me like I'm not here?" Malik snapped, making all three mermen look at him. He quivered slightly then scowled like he was just poked between the eyes. "I can talk you know."

"How surprising," Seto drawled, putting his elbows on the edge of the pier. He was barely visible in the dark as were the others but Malik had the feeling they could see him just fine. He wouldn't be surprised if they had night vision or some other cool shit like that.

"Seto, back off," Marik growled.

Seto didn't reply as he sighed and his face adapted an expressionless look. He was quite good at it. Yami clapped his hands once then inclined his head towards Malik, all polite-like. "Right, so do you think you could help us?" Yami said looking expectantly at Malik like there was no way he could refuse.

They were asking his help now? "What is the matter with these people, merpeople?" Malik shouted, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. The mermen stared at him. "Are all of you this crazy? All the four of you are so stuck up and demanding! Seriously, where you all raised in a place or something?"

"Well, basic-" Marik stared to say.

"That's none of your business," Seto stated coldly, interrupting Marik. Then he fixed his laser-blue gaze on Malik. "'All four of you'?" he said slowly, each word more interrogating than the last. "There are only three of us."

"That was what I was going to say," Marik said, gazing affectionately at the only human present. "Human-pretty-"

"My NAME is Malik Ishtar you freak," Malik shouted, jerking to stand on his feet. It was a bit difficult with the water slinky on his foot. "And I'm not pretty."

"Yes you are," Marik smiled like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Malik colored slightly and scowled.

"How do you stand on those?" The sudden question from Yami surprised him. He blinked confused at the odd inquiry then he remembered he was talking to mermen who didn't have legs. Yami was studying his legs as if there were instructions written on them somewhere. "When you're born do you automatically know how to use them or does it take time?"

"Well," Malik mused, scratching the back of his head. "It usually takes us a few months after most turn, like, I don't know, ten months or something." Yami hummed, letting Malik's words of wisdom sink in.

"Who is the fourth merman?" Seto said impatiently, tapping the boards annoyingly with his nails. He knew that no merperson who be seen without a really good reason if he wasn't named Marik.

"Fine," Malik huffed while Marik shot Seto a glare. "You're all the same: impatient. Would it kill you to say please?"

"Please?" Marik offered, tilting his head to the side.

"Whatever," Malik decided. "Well, yeah, I've met one merman before you guys and it was quite the surprise. Nearly gave us a heart attack and twenty bucks." He pouted. He made that bet years ago but it still stood.

"'Us'," Seto repeated, narrowing his eyes. "Who are in this 'us'?"

"That'll be me, Ryou, Yuugi, and Jou," Malik counted off on his fingers. "There my friends and have been for years, I'll have you know. Actually it was Ryou who found him, stranded on the beach like a dead fish. That guy must have passed through a cheese shredder 'cause he had more cuts than I had when I took that rubber mouse from the neighbor's cat." Malik made a sour face at the memory.

"It's Bakura isn't it?" Yami said pessimistically, rubbing his temples like he had a migraine. Seto cursed in some foreign language under his breath and forcefully pulled his hair back. When Marik nodded enthusiastically Yami asked, "Where is he?"

"We took him back to our place," Malik said, pointing behind his shoulder with his thumb. "Ryou was having kittens over him and Yuugi can't look at someone injured without breaking a leg to help. He was asleep for, how many days? Um, first it was two days before he woke up and then two more after he fainted doing the freaky light show thing. Last time I saw him he was swimming around the pool fit as a fiddle. Well, most of him anyway according to Yuugi."

"'Freaky light show thing'?" Yami repeated, an amused smirk on his face.

Malik made a face at him. He didn't like being mocked. "Yes, like this thing here." He pointed at his ankle and the water tread. "Would you mind taking this thing off and that thing while you're at it?" He moved his finger until he pointed to where he thought the invisible wall of jelly was.

Seto raised an eyebrow then figured that Malik was trying to point at the barrier. He must have tried to escape while they were occupied underwater. It was just their luck to get involved with humans. To say the least, they were interesting creatures. Weak, stupid, mindless creatures but interesting all the same. Seto found himself wondering what it would be like to have legs then shook off the ridiculous idea. It would take a great amount of magic and knowledge of transmutation to achieve to transform a scaled tail into a pair of legs. There have been –very- few mermen who tried it and even less who actually made it. Maybe two at the most. Of course most tried to do it alone while they had, at the moment, three mermen with a high level of magi, four if they could find Bakura. Why was he thinking about this? There was no way he would spend a moment as a human. It was just degrading.

Yami chuckled and his eyes flushed a gold color. The water thing fell apart, dripping water down Malik's foot, who did thing dance thing, waving his foot in the air, almost falling over in his haste to get dry. Most of his clothes were dry but they were crinkly and uncomfortable. The air shimmered behind him and Malik knew the wall of Jell-o was no more.

"Well thanks," Malik said gratefully.

"Why would humans help one of us?" Seto asked suspiciously. "Humans are selfish. Bakura's probably going to end up in a showing container for the rest of your species to gawk at."

"What's your problem?" Malik asked, insulted, gritting his teeth. "We saw a guy hurt and we brought to our house to help him. Who cares if he was half-fish? We even went to extreme measures just to avoid Bakura getting seen by the public. Okay, some of us humans are heartless but tell me if there aren't some selfish jerks down there as well." Damn, when he got defensive his mind made up some really good points. Another proud moment by Malik.

Seto frowned but didn't say anything back. It was true there were some mermen who rivaled humans in that department but he wasn't going to bring that up. Humans may not be so bad after all. He chided himself. Of course they were bad but kept a suspicious mind open just in case.

"Yo, anyone out dere?" The walkie-talkie sprung to life where it had remained dormant. Four pairs of eyes were instantly attached to the little black communicator. If Malik wasn't mistaken, that would be Jou's voice. No one could possibly forget his accent if you knew him for a while.

"What is that?" Marik hissed, backing away and sinking into the water until only his eyes and hair were visible to Malik. He kind of looked like a multi-finned shark looking at a possible threat.

"It's Jou!" Malik said happily, squatting down and grabbing it respectfully. So now it decides to come alive, ungrateful piece of technology.

"I thought Jou was a human," Yami said confused. "Not a little black box with a stick on top."

"He is," Malik responded which made Yami even more confused. Malik ignored him and pressed the side button. "Jou, man! About time. I was beginning to think you forgot about me. You'll not believe what has happened!"

The response almost instantaneously came through the small speaker. "Malik where are ya? Do ya know 'ow late it is?" Jou's voice was half annoyed and half relived. Aw, he knew Jou cared.

"Yeah, so why didn't you say something?" Malik retorted, so happy to hear his friend's voice he momentarily forgot about the three mermen. "Do you know what I have been through?"

Seto was looking suspiciously and carefully at him as if he was going to spontaneously combust at any time. What is this strange human contraption? Was this a new form of human species that they didn't know about? It didn't look human but a merman never knows with these things and he hated that. Marik was still quietly hissing but even though he was wary of the black box he was still as close to his human-pretty as he could possibly get. Yami was thoughtfully regarding the black little thing with professional curiosity and wariness. Yes, there is professional wariness. Go read the professional handbook.

"Sorry," Jou said sarcastically while there were voices that Malik recognized as Ryou and Yuugi in the background. "Huh? Hold on for a mo…no don think…sounds fine…calm down will ya, yar getting' me nervous…all right all right don 'ave a heart attack." Jou sounded exasperated. "Yuugi wants ta speak ta ya."

"Alright but I have something to tell you guys. It's imp-"

"Malik!" Yuugi said, sounding worried then stern. Malik cringed; he knew that tone. "Do you know how late it is? You never stay out so late! You could have been mugged in the dark or killed or worse! When Ryou said to spend a good amount of time at the mall he didn't mean over five hours! Wait, this is you right?" His voice lowered to a whisper as if waiting to hear lie.

"Yeah, Yuugi this is your favoritest friend, the almighty, sexy Malik!" he said exuberantly.

He heard a relived sigh filter through. "Good I though may have been someone else pretending to be you or something. Oh, Malik where are you?" Malik winced at the disappointed tone. Yuugi could make anyone feel like a naughty five year old.

Yami frowned at the new voice that Malik was talking to into the black box thingy. It was so soft yet firm like the voice knew what it was saying. Yami unexpectedly felt kind of dizzy. It was so soft… He immediately wanted to reach in the box thing and pull out whoever was inside so he could meet them. He almost did just that but stopped himself just in time.

"Well, I'm at the pier, you know, down by the beach," Malik said, twirling a strand of hair around his finger, getting perturbed by the inquisitive stares of the mermen in the water.

"Oh, well, that's pretty close. What are you doing there? Do you want Jou to pick you up?" Such a mother hen.

"That's a long and weird story," Malik sighed, glancing at Marik who had gotten his face out of the water but was still glaring at the walkie-talkie. He got an idea to get them to trust him as Seto obviously didn't. "Hey can you do me a favor Yuugi?"

"If I can, yes," Yuugi assured him, rustling in the background. It was noiseless for a few movements where Malik thought they turned it off for some unexplainable reason. "Jou says that if you're in jail then you're on your own." Then Yuugi registered his own words. "But if you are we'll get you out, don't worry," he said hastily and apologetic. "Are you in jail?"

"God!" Malik shouted, pulling his hair. "Why does everyone think I call them to get me out of jail? Huh? That was only one time. ONE! Can nobody count? One, uno, une, deux, trios, no wait, that's French for one two three. It was only once!" What? He failed French twice. Madam Lequis was an old hag, really. She never liked him and gave him bad notes.

There was a surprised silence at the other end. He heard Yami stage-whisper, "This must be a touchy subject." Malik gritted his teeth. It wasn't as much as a touchy subject as an annoying one. Seriously one night in the can and you're branded for life. It wasn't even that bad but maybe that was because his cell had been empty before him so he didn't get to meet the other inhabitants of the police station (Thank you). But he'll ignore all the jail-less people's ignorance for now.

"Okay," Yuugi said slowly, hesitantly. "Well, we didn't call you earlier, I wanted to but the walkie-talkie was acting really, um, how do I describe this? It was kind …insane. Like short-circuiting and Jou almost blew an ear off trying to shut it off. What were you doing to it?"

"Nothing, I swear," Malik said hastily. He eyed the silent mermen staring at him and his walkie-talkie. "But I think I know some people who would account for that." Maybe their abracadabra did something.

"Who? Muggers?" Yuugi said gasping and Malik could just picture him running around frantically in circles in alarm. Probably next to a hyperventilating Ryou and a cussing Jou.

"No, no, chill out Yuugi," Malik said exasperatedly. "This is part of the little favor I want to ask you. Can you put our guest on the line, por favor?"

"Guest as in-" Yuugi started questionably, probably thinking that Malik was joking around with him.

"Yes, yes, him," Malik said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He wondered how the mermen would react to hearing Bakura on the little communicator and snickered delightfully. "Quickly come on."

"Well…okay, Ryou'll go and put him on the line. But Jou says that he's going to pick you up in a few minutes alright? Don't move," Yuugi said reassuring. Malik smiled slightly, shivering as another breeze blew by. He felt his breath quickening and quickly tried to smooth out his heart rate.

"Tell Jou to wait a bit," Malik said, still shivering, holding the walkie-talkie tightly. "After you get our guest on the line can all three of you come? This is a bit confusing and odd." That was an understatement.

"Sure, Malik." Malik could hear the smile in his voice and it reassured him better than having the SWAT team around him in a three foot thick metal safe. Yuugi just gave off this feeling that he was going to never hurt you. "A minute…go on Ryou."

The little red light turned off and he was left alone and freezing. Well, mostly alone. Please hurry up. He had felt better while talking to people he knew well rather than these fish people. They didn't say a word making him feel very self-conscious. It was almost like they felt that he would go ape on them or something. Actually that was just Seto and Yami, Marik was looking happier now that the walkie-talkie had been turned off and was trying to scoot closer to Malik, who was now able to move farther away.

"Um, sooo," Malik said hesitantly, not able to take the silence much longer. "How didja get all the way to this little pier? I just came here because it I wanted to have some down time and watch the sunset. I was nice, at least the part I saw, -someone- jumped me and made me miss it." He glared at Marik who just grinned unabashedly. "But then you guys came then there was all the shouting, the fighting, then the lights, then the talking, and the walkie-talkie and all the jazz."

"Shut up, your voice is annoying," Seto ordered, looking around uninterestedly as if questioning himself why he was there in the first place.

"Well, excuse me," Malik huffed and muttered under his breath about fish fumes messing with their brains.

"What is that?" Yami solicited, pointing at the walkie-talkie, repeating Marik's earlier question. Water was slowly dripping down and causing the spikes, similar to Yuugi's, to slightly droop before Yami shook his head. Water droplets flew everywhere and the red tipped and blond spikes perked back up, semi-melting with the night. Wait until Yuugi got an eyeful of _that_.

Before Malik could answer the red light blinked again. "Malik? He's going on," Ryou breathless voice came through.

"Thanks Ry," Malik answered back then sat back down on the pier, facing out towards the ocean. The wooden boards were cold against his legs in the chilly air. He should have worn pants today. "Check this out." He grinned at the mermen then waiting.

The light blinked several times and static came through like someone was continuously pressing the side button. Unidentifiable words were shouted that could have been anything by anyone. Did Bakura even now how to use this thing? He just hoped he didn't drop it in the water. It wasn't waterproof.

Finally something came. "Fu...gah!...(crackle)….How do you…kill!…(ksssssssssssshtt)…Oh, so you…Fucking button." Bakura's voice came loud, halting, and pissed. Malik pressed the side button to answer.

"AHH!" Marik yelled, breaking the stunned silence, pointing at the walkie-talkie. "THEY TRAPPED BAKURA IN THE BLACK BOX!" Yami and Seto both rushed forwards to the end of the pier, eyes wide, making Malik jump back, fumbling with the airborne walkie-talkie.

"WHAT?...(phsssttt) Marik?...hell…(hiss)…you...doing….about time. Where are Yami and Seto? You better have a fucking good reason to be so late and what black box?" Ah, it seemed like Bakura mastered the use of the walkie-talkie. "(sssskkkkkkttttttt)..shi….OW!..." Never mind.

"What have you done to Bakura?" Seto asked darkly, shadows dancing in his eyes.

"Nothing!" Malik exclaimed quickly, afraid for his health. "This is a walkie-talkie. It's used to talk to people far away if they have another one of these. He isn't trapped inside or anything. He's back at the house with my friends. I swear!"

"BAKURA'S IN THE BOX!" Marik kept yelling, waving his hands in the air as if he would find Bakura's spirit floating around.

Yami ignored Marik. "So it's a communicating device," Yami confirmed then nodded, apparently satisfied. Seto was studying him circumspectly, obviously not totally believing that it was the truth. Why was this guy so suspicious?

"Yeah," Malik nodded then spoke to Bakura. "Hey, yeah, Marik, Yami and Seto are here with me at the shore."

"BAKURA, WE'LL SAVE YOU!"

"That id….gah…..how you…..stupid….alright, I got this stupid thing, you just press the bu…..oh, you keep pressing it. You could have tol….that before." There was rustling before Bakura's voice came perfectly clear. "How the hell do you human's function these things? Whatever I don't care. Malik pass me to someone, I want to yell at them."

"WHAT DO WE DO? WHAT DO WE DO?"

Malik blinked and stuck a finger in his ear. Wow, he must have a big set of lungs to yell so loud. "Alright, I suppose," he said slowly into the air turning to look at the two sane mermen. "Who wants to send Bakura a hello?"

"I'll do it," Seto said coldly and reached out a hand, twitching his fingers like he wanted Malik to throw the walkie-talkie instead of handing it to him. What does he think he had cooties?

"AHHH! BAKURA, DON'T SWIM TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"

"Fine," Malik huffed, eager to see him fumble with human technology like Bakura did. Without giving instructions, he tossed it in a beautiful arc. Seto's webbed hand easily caught it and brought it to his mouth. Malik was disappointed. He aimed to hit the other in the face.

Seto caught the thwarted look and smirked then he pressed the button on the side. "Idiot, what are you doing in a human dwelling? I'm going to kill you," Seto said casually, professionally manipulating the walkie-talkie. He had caught Bakura's scarce words on the complications and figured out how to work it out easily.

"(kkksssss) Set…..Ah, stop! What are you doing, bastard? How'd you fine Malik? I thought you were all human-phobic and shit. Tell Marik to shut up, he's giving me a headache."

"WAH! YAMI, SETO, WE HAVE TO SET BAKURA FREE!"

"Marik, Bakura's fine," Yami hissed at Marik, hitting him on the back of the head. "Will you keep the volume down? We don't want any other humans finding out about us." Marik blinked then nodded, his attention being driven back towards Malik now that he was talking-black-box-free.

"Marik jumped the human," Seto said distastefully, fin swishing idly beneath the surface.

"Really? Figures the nutcase would (phhssstt) find Malik," Bakura commented. Then a really high wail blew through the little speakers that sounded like a dying seagull with a chorus of giant robotic howler monkeys. Malik gasped and covered his ears as best as he could. Was this what Yuugi meant by it going insane and sort-circuiting? It was certainly blowing his ears off.

"BAKURA'S GOING TO EXPLODE!" Marik screeched again, diving under the pier to find a safe place to hide.

Seto blinked then threw the walkie-talkie at Yami unexpectedly. Yami yelped as it hit him in the forehead and fumbled for it, teeth clenched together trying to ignore the nasty screech on his sensitive ears. He got a good hold on it before it started vibrating violently jumping from Yami's surprised hands into the water with a soft plop. Malik gasped as it sank slowly, seeing his only form of human communication sinking into the watery abyss. Oh, woe is he… He knew he should have never given it to them! Shaking off his surprise, Yami dove back into the water, giving Malik the small view of a scarlet finned tail.

"Gah," Malik could only whimper as Yami came back with the walkie-talkie in his hand. Yami shook it inquisitively and heard several clinking sounds.

"Um, I think it's broken," Yami said sheepishly. He laid it delicately on the pier, letting it drip a small puddle under it. Malik whimpered again.

The walkie-talkie was a tough camper. It made one last valiant attempt to work as Ryou tried to speak. "Mal(kksstt)…Jou(ssshhht)..car (shhhhtttt) (kksstt)…hold tight." And it completely died, leaving its little screen blank. To Malik it was the saddest and most heartbreaking scene he had ever seen.

Well, at least he heard enough to know that Jou and his friends were on their way to rescue him. He felt panic start to seep in again. He tried to shake it off; he could not afford to panic right now. But it was so dark…

Yami looked at the little wet black box and felt a bit bad. But it was all Seto's fault! What possessed him to throw it at him? It caught him by surprise. At least he didn't hide under the bridge thing like Marik did and still was. It was kind of funny to see parts of his spikes poke through the crack in between each wooden board… Yami shot Seto glare, who returned it promptly but before he could say something about it. He felt something around his hand tighten.

That's right, he still had one probe out in the water. The single magi line around his index finger was glowing blue. That was not good, not good at all. Bad news: At least twelve to fifteen auras from the ocean were on their way to their location. More Bad News: the broken spear end he found was probably theirs. Semi-Good News: They had at least half an hour before they got here. Good News: …there was no good news!

"_We have a problem," _Yami said, sighing.

* * *

God, that was really long! Alright, now think you all know what's going to happen next chapter don't you? Well, yes, cheer. I just keep typing and typing and I don't notice how long it has gotten. I hope that I got all the errors out.

Review please!


	10. Lighting the Way

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yoai) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cussing

**Chapter Name**: Lighting the Way

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh.

**Author Notes: **All that support was wonderful, thank you! Now before I start this chapter I just want to say that I do not necessarily hate Anzu but I just don't like her so take that whatever way you want to. Leave me your questions in reviews and I will do my best to reply if you have any questions that you wish would be answered.

Thank you for your reviews especially S2Teennovelist for her/his kick ass long review. I am glad that so many of you liked the walkie-talkie scene. It was my pleasure. And I have a question that I just can't seem to get the answer for. I just found out that I was correct with dice-boy's name the first time so his name will now be mentioned as Ryuji when it's his turn to talk. Sorry about that. This will be the last time, I swear. I get confused like that a lot.

"Blah, blah, blah," English

"_Blah, blah, blah," _Meridian

* * *

"_What could you possibly have to say that will make this situation more horrible than it already is?" _Seto knew that something would happen. Of course he did. Whenever one of the four did do something outrageous, somehow, it always got the other three dragged along for the ride even if they protested. It has been that way forever.

"_Well, if you count that there's a squad of guards thirty minutes behind us as something to make this worse then yes, I have said something to make this worse," _Yami said dryly, sighing.

"_Perfect just perfect,"_ Seto spat, crossing his arms. Why was he cursed with all the bad luck and the responsibility to fix said bad luck? Did he look like a goddamn babysitter? "_It was probably those signals Marik sent. This is exactly what we needed. We have to move now, fast." _

"_As much as I know agreeing with you boosts your ego, I have to agree," _Yami said somewhat reluctantly, glancing at Malik, who was staring weepy-eyed at the little broken black box on the wooden boards. "Um, Malik?" Malik ripped his eyes away slowly as if his eyes were made of lead and blinked. "Hey, are you listening? And Marik get out from under there, we have to go."

"What go where?" Malik said slowly, his mind still in shock and was gradually unfreezing. He was still a bit dazed to say the least.

"_What? No! I don't want to!"_ Marik cried from under the pier, the spikes of hair moving along the cracks as Marik quickly swam and thrashed around to get out from the human construction thingy. Malik jumped away as Marik's head popped out into the open. As far as Malik could see with his human night vision the other had on an indignant expression on his face. _"I will not leave my human-pretty, Seto and you can't make me!"_ His voice had risen to a high pitch as he shouted and slashed his fist in the water like a rebellious child unwilling to give up his favorite toy.

"_I may not be able,"_ Seto growled coldly, eyes flickering to Malik for a second. _"But the guard will and not very nicely I might add."_ Marik had to understand, even he could not be this stupid. He could not sacrifice his freedom for a mere human no matter if he was their link to Bakura. As much as Seto would have loved to let Marik learn his lesson and let the guard take care of him, his responsibilities as a friend wouldn't let him. Right now, in order to help Bakura, they needed to escape and be ready for another chance to rescue him.

Marik breath caught in his throat. _"The Royal Guard?" _Marik hissed, paranoia crawling up his spine as he glance around them instantly. _"How did they-"_

"_How do you think, idiot?" _Seto said unfeelingly, resisting the urge to hit some sense into him. Doing that would take years practically since there was nothing but leftover seaweed in that spiky skull of his. He must have cracked a hole in his head when he was small that let all the air out. _"Your signal obviously alerted them to where we are. That's why Yami said a signal not signals."_

"_How was I suppose to call you, being so far away?" _Marik cried in outrage. He did exactly what Yami told him to do and what does he get? He gets yelled at. He can't win, damnit! _"I can't yell that far away!"_ Even he had his limitations as much as it bugged him.

"_You didn't have to yell, you incompetent,"_ Seto growled again, feeling the little time they had start to slip away the longer they stayed here. Fine it was time to play dirty. _"And what do you think would happen to Malik here? You know as well as I do that the Royal Guard wouldn't let a human get away with seeing one of us? Hm?" _

Yami frowned a bit disapprovingly. Leave it to Seto to weasel someone into doing what he wanted using their weaknesses. But it would probably get Marik to leave if not only to return later. Yami had been watching semi-consciously. His attention was mostly focused on his probe which was telling him that the guards were not very far away. If they wanted to get a good head start and a faint chance at getting away they had to leave now. As fascinating as humans were Yami didn't like being captured just to hang around one and he knew that Set basically shared the same feeling. Seto was never the social type anyway.

"Say what?" Malik's voice went unheard in the tumbling of smooth but foreign sounds. He was starting to get annoyed now that he wasn't sulking over his deceased walkie-talkie. At least he wouldn't be here alone for much longer if he knew his friends. It would take less than five minutes for them to get here especially if Jou took one of the cars and Yuugi was panicking. That little guy could set anyone's nerves on fire and start sweating like the Hoover Dam. He could think of the most nerve-racking situations when he needed to even if he did it subconsciously.

"_Human-pretty?" _Marik said softly in a worried tone that brought some kind of alarm in Seto. Marik seemed to really care about this human…But that's insane, he would get over it in a few days tops. There was no way… They didn't have enough liberty at the moment to do anything remotely related to that. _"I'll break all their bones if they touch him!" _Now that was more like him. Seto had been worried that he had been turned into sentimental mush. Now that was scary to picture.

"_Marik we don't have time for this,"_ Seto reminded Marik frostily, wishing he could just drag him away by force. He doubted him and Yami could do that when Marik really didn't want to go. _"We have to go now." _To say that he was stressed was an understatement.

"_You can visit Malik later," _Yami said quickly as possibly three minutes of their limited time flew by in Marik's stubbornness. The shadow that was Marik was wavering around in the water, stuck between staying with Malik or fleeing. Yami hated running away but there was no choice now and, anyway, they weren't fleeing exactly. They were making a tactical retreat. It was for Bakura's sake if nothing else. If Bakura was being taken care of as Malik said then they fortunately had more time than he expected and they could regroup to think another plan.

"_Promise?" _Marik said pleadingly. He didn't want to leave his human-pretty, not even for a second. What if something happened to him? What if the guard grabbed him while he was running away and they drowned him? No! He wouldn't leave! No! _"I can't leave him, Yami. No!" _To emphasize his statement, he rushed to the pier's edge and grabbed on to it fiercely.

Malik was bewildered and that was saying something. He was though, predictably, greatly peeved. Here he was on a pier in the middle of the water, surrounded by mermen who were talking about something that probably included him if the way Marik had latched on to the pier was any indication. And he couldn't understand squat. They were talking about him and he couldn't do anything. Malik would be willing to bet that they weren't saying nice things about him; they probably were calling him fat! He wasn't fat! He was suppose to input his say here! These guys were royal pricks, well, at least Seto blue-eyes over there was showing the perfect signs of being a high class one. "Excuse me." It never hurt to be polite. Ishizu could not say that he didn't learn his manners now. She would be proud.

"_What do you mean you're not going?"_ Seto said softly, his tone underlined by a dangerous calm. His neck muscles were tense but that was the only sign of anger visible to the casual observer.

But Yami had known Seto ever since he was five years old and he knew exactly what to look for. And he was, unfortunately, seeing it. Damn, did Marik really have a death wish? Surely Marik knew by now that baiting Seto like this never got anyone anywhere other than broken bones and snapped necks? Seto was in control, that was the first thing Yami learned about him. Even as a little kid, he looked into those eyes and saw that this was not a guy to mess with and would never be. A few words with him had Yami feeling that he would never get past this guy's shell and he was just five years old for fuck's sake. Where in the seven seas would a five year old learn to pull that off? Yami and Bakura had never been ones to give up and their perseverance went into play that day in the Council. Bakura's attention had been brought to Seto and Yami had been forced to go along. But in the end they had won Seto over after months of chasing after him and bugging and, in return, he had convinced them to give Marik a chance. Funny how fate plays out doesn't it?

"Excuse me!"

"_I'm not going,"_ Marik repeated persistently, still holding onto the pier like the last lifeline in existence. Well, actually human-pretty was his lifeline. Where would he be without his lifeline? Nowhere. That made perfect sense in his head. _"What if something bad happens to him?"_

"Hey!"

"_Something will happen to him if you stay here, Marik. Use your common sense,"_ Seto said, his well of patience rapidly running dry. Why did he say that? Marik had no common sense._" Would you really want to destroy Bakura's and our chance of getting away for some human you just met? Marik, move your sorry ass!" _

"HEY!"

"_No!" _Marik shouted like a disobedient child, rearing his head back and hissing softly as Seto twitched towards his unmovable body. He could see those hands itching to grab him and decapitate him so he slightly sank more into the dark churning water. Hm, the tide was rising and lapping the wooden deck boards.

"HELLO!"

"_Marik let's just go!" _Yami said harshly, worried that they had just missed another two minutes. Why did Marik have to go and get so attached to a human especially in this situation?

"_You're suppose to be on my side, Yami,"_ Marik cried, disheartened. Why did everyone always go against him? It wasn't fair! He had been sure that Yami would side with him since he and Seto had an odd rival/friend relationship going on. How they managed to do that escaped his mind.

"HELLOOO!"

"_Okay, I'm going to regret this but I have to agree with Seto, we have to move NOW!" _Yami sighed; he was very well aware of the probe that was insistently telling him that the Royal Guard was fast approaching. Those bastards could be quick when they wanted to. At this rate they were begging to be captured.

Marik was going to furiously interrupt before a loud, angry voice drowned him out.

"ASSHOLES! WOULD YOU KINDLY TAKE A MINUTE TO SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME?"

As three pairs of sharp eyes instantly fixed on his profile Malik wondered too late if yelling out was such a good idea. But he had gotten tired fast of being ignored and he had gotten what he wanted did he? Malik wilted a bit under the silent gazes then perked up. It had intrigued him when Seto had start arguing dangerously at Marik again (or that's what it seemed. He didn't catch a single familiar word) and Yami had been glancing worriedly at the dark open ocean then to his fingers then to his fellow mermen then back to the ocean. All this paranoia brought back the question that had bugged Jou and told him: Why was Bakura almost torn apart? It hadn't been just the storm. All the cuts had healed but the gash on the back refused to close, leaving the muscles underneath exposed. It wasn't bleeding but it could any moment bleed again or catch an infection and Bakura kept unraveling his bandages too. Not helping.

"Uh, right," Malik said nervously as he realized that they had been waiting rather impatiently for him to say whatever was so important that he had to interrupt. Then he blinked as he realized something. "Hey, why are your fingers glowing dark green? Is that healthy?"

Yami felt his breath catch in his throat. Oh, Goddess, this was not good, so not good. The original squad had been increased by at least six more guards and they had less than fifteen minutes to high tail it out of here. _"If we don't move soon this will be the last you get to see of Malik so let's go!" _Yami cried desperately, tightening his fist around the probe line.

Malik stared at the alarmed expression then at Seto's furious one and Marik's shocked one. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asked hesitantly, not liking the feel of this…whatever in the air.

Seto was thinking fast, one of the many things he was good at. They had wasted too much time here and every second ticking away meant that they were that much closer at getting captured and whatever the king wanted to do to them would not be pleasant. If they couldn't swim away then they would have to hide in a practically camouflaged location. Their magi signals were only activated when they used magic so as long as they avoided that then they only needed to find someplace where the Royal Guard could never find them, somewhere where they could not be able to go. There had to be someplace that was totally off bounds to the guards but able for them to get to. Come on, Kaiba, think. You haven't gotten this far for nothing. Gouzaburou had trained him to get out of situations where every escape was sealed off. His gaze involuntarily slid over to the human on the wooden structure and gears started turning in his head almost immediately. His stomach sank at which direction his thoughts were turning. There had to be another way! There had to be! This could not be the only option. It was absurd, totally irrational and defied every Meridian ethic known. But it was the only plan he could think of that might work and that was amazing for him, to only be able to think of one plan. It reminded him of how limited and dangerous the present situation was.

It could work if Yami knew the right skill. What was he thinking? He remembered Yami reading a book about it so he should know how to do but did they have enough power? Even with Yami's incredible control and power it might be beyond his ability to so such a thing but right now…they really had no choice if they were going to stay out of the Royal Guard's hands. The rising tide would bring the Royal Guard even faster towards them and make escape that much slower for them but maybe they could use this in their favor. If they got the right spot then the power of the ocean in the tide would scatter their magi signals down the coast more easily just like Bakura's Kyroi Heledi spell. A long distance spell meant that it was weak so the ocean would easily be able to sweep it away. It was the same for really powerful spells like the one Seto was desperately thinking of. He must be out of his mind.

And Malik here…If things were really as this human said then they would have a better chance, actually a 64 chance of actually surviving through this, a major increase from a few hours ago. But Seto didn't trust this human nor the others that had spoken from the 'wallkie-talkyie' or whatever the hell it was called.

Damn, he knew he was going to regret this soooo much in the future.

"_I have a plan," _Seto announced, gritting his teeth to get the words out. Yami's and Marik's attention fixed on him instantly, hearing Seto's famous line. Whenever Seto said he had a plan then it was for your better health to listen. Marik seemed to have noticed how delicate this situation was now that the stakes have been upped. _"But we will need the human's help unfortunately." _

Seto was actually admitting that they needed help from a human? Were the oceans melting? This was an amazing moment in history and needed to be documented! Marik was ecstatic that they needed human-pretty. That meant that human-pretty could stick around longer. Yayness!

"_What is it?" _Yami was positively curious to what Seto could be planning. After all, most of his plans were fool-proof and relatively safe. One of his only good points. If anyone could get them out of this it was Seto Kaiba.

"_I'll explain later," _Seto said hurriedly then looked at Malik, who was getting annoyed at the chatter of Meridian, with eyes that made him freeze in mid-mind-cussing. "Human, we don't have much time but we needed you to do something for us."

"You're asking for a favor as in me helping you?" Malik replied loudly, disbelief in his eyes. They had no right to ask for a favor after all they have said. He was shivering quiet badly now. He didn't have clothes for the beach's cold nights since he was supposed to be at the R.U.S.B.H. by now. "Didn't we already go over this?" he said in the direction that he hoped the mermen where. It was pretty dark, you know.

"Look forget that for now," Seto kept talking, planning on not letting the human get another word in since he was already protesting, ignoring the fact that the human had been talking to the air three feet to his left. This was crazy. He would just keep explaining until they had to go and- he couldn't believe he was planning this- waiting where the human would hopefully fulfill his end. "Do you know of the cluster of tide pools south of this place? Just say yes or no!"

"Yes! God, you sure are bossy," Malik muttered distastefully, wrapping his arms around him in a small effort to stay warm. He surely wasn't going anywhere. His curiosity had risen its head from the inside of Malik and that was the only thing that kept him from walking away. What was that saying? Curiosity killed the cat. Hopefully he wasn't going to end up as the cat this time. He preferred lizards to cats anyway.

"Good." At least that went well. "We have some characters behind us that we would prefer not to catch up with us so we'll need you and whoever else is coming to go to the tide pools. This is either life or death for us so if you value your pathetic life then you'll be there."

"Say what?" Malik's jaw dropped as he stared incredulously at the stoic merman who said something brief to the others in fish and promptly, with one last warning glare to made tremors crawl up his spine, ducked back smoothly under the waves, shinning sliver before melting with the dark water with ease.

Yami shot one expectant look at Malik then with an apologetic grimace he, too, followed Seto's example, disappearing with a splash, drops of salt water jumping into the cold air. For someone who looked like Yuugi he sure wasn't very polite.

"We'll be waiting human-pretty," Marik said warmly over to the side, making Malik look over to him and was caught in glowing dark purple eyes. With the way he was looking at Malik you'd think that Malik held all the trust in the world and he had no doubt that Malik wouldn't abandon them. How could he…be so trusting in someone he just met? "I promise we'll meet soon. I know you'll come back to me." And he, too, was gone without another word, leaving Malik standing on the pier, in the dark where he could barely see in front of him, with big eyes and speechless.

Silence…

"What the hell?"

* * *

Jou gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles starting to slowly turn white, eyes watching the road so intently that you'd think it would disappear if he took his eyes off it for a second. It could have been possible, he mused, since it was pretty dark outside but the headlights were working perfectly fine, showing the road ahead.

"Jou, do you think he's alright?" Yuugi said, his big eyes peeking over Jou's seat and getting an eyeful of blond hair.

"Don't kno' dat, Yuuge but known' 'im any'hings possible," Jou replied casually, breathing heavy like he was running a marathon. His brows were furrowed as he worriedly looked ahead.

"Malik wouldn't get into serious trouble purposely," Ryou softly reassured Yuugi, gently drawing back into his seat next to his. He hesitated. "We'll not unless someone made him angry or something but he knows his limits." Actually Ryou no clue if what he just said was true but let's not telling Yuugi that.

"Yeah, you're right," Yuugi smiled a little and willed himself to relax into the seat. It wouldn't do anyone any good to panic. He bit his lip lightly. Yuugi couldn't help but worry, something that he always had with him. He just treasured his friends so much that he didn't want anything bad to happen to them anymore.

"Gah, dis ding is so bulky!" Jou complained loudly, taking a turn more sharply and closer to the edge that he liked. He considered punching the dash board for a moment before instead pressing his foot down harder on the gas, making the car speed up well past the speed limit. There were no cops around these places anyway. He recognized the usual hang out places of cops and they were mostly out on the main streets.

"J-Jou," Yuugi gasped, automatically grasping his seatbelt that had been strapped across his chest and the blanket over his shoulders. "C-calm down!" He didn't want to end up as a splatter of paint on the road. That was not the way he wanted to go especially so early in his life! He hadn't even had his first kiss yet!

"Please," Ryou cried as well to back up Yuugi and he didn't like how fast the world was speeding by outside the window. "Jou, you're going to end up crashing!" And send them flying through the windshield and he doubted that his uncle would like his car back half-totaled.

Jou's lips pressed together tightly but obediently slowed down to the normal speed and sighed, muttering his apologies. He had been in such a rush to get out of the house that he couldn't remember where he left his car keys. He could have sworn that he put them on the kitchen counter but when he went for them they were gone. Jou went for the next best thing and grabbed the key to the truck that Ryou's uncle had graciously left them. Ryou and Yuugi had already been next to the truck as they climbed into the truck as quick as they could. They knew where Malik was but in the streets so near to houses there were no traffic lights and the headlights made it hard to see the street signs, making him take more than one wrong turn to his great frustration.

The dark blue truck was bulky and Jou wasn't used to cars bigger than his own. It was one of those Suburban trucks with three rows of seats including the pilot and co-pilot's seats at the front. The second row there were three seats with the seat on the right side able to fold and allow people to the third row where three more seats were snuggly stationed. The covered trunk was a bit bigger and more spacey than normal so Jou had a suspicion that Ryou's uncle had it custom-made. It was too flashy for Jou's taste.

Jou had no idea where Malik could have met those voices that belonged to people that knew Bakura. Jou and his friends knew that they had to be merpeople for them to know Bakura and that set Jou on edge. Where did all these guys keep popping up from? One was one too many, in his opinion but now they had no choice as Bakura bitched at them something fierce to find these other merpeople and Malik was with them so there was no way not to run into them if they hadn't already left. But Jou didn't know why the walkie-talkie suddenly went dead on Malik's side. That only increased Jou's sense that Malik was in something possibly dangerous. Why was that little turd always getting into trouble? Well, there was nothing they could do about it now that was for sure. There barely had enough to time to grab a jacket before they were off. At least Jou was use to last minute rushing but his friends had been less coordinating, tripping and banging into everything as they frantically ran out the door.

It was odd in a way, now that he thought about it. His friends, especially Ryou, were known to get a little clumsy when wholly worried but, really, tripping over the sofa was a little too much in his opinion. How does one miss seeing a big black sofa?

Yuugi's teeth clattered softly in his mouth and pulled the blanket around him tighter, trying to keep some warmth inside the little cocoon. Yuugi barely managed to grab a couple of blankets from the nearest closet before rushing out. He was lucky. He had blindly acquired several big, cotton ones that could make a nice cozy nest. Yuugi hadn't even thought of changing when they rushed out and was still decked out in his thin pajamas that did no help against the cold night. He still had his slippers on as well. He mentally chided himself for not thinking ahead and changing. He was going to be of no help if he was too cold to do anything. He hoped they would get there before anything bad happened but with their luck… Better get there quick.

"How much longer, Jou?" Ryou asked from the back seat, a finger absentmindedly toying with a strand of white hair.

"We shudda been dere by now but da damn roads are too dark. Can't see wh're 'm goin'," Jou grumbled lightly, switching the headlights to see if they did any better but they all seemed to have the same result to Jou reluctantly put it back on the first one. "But if I don' miss any turns den it shuddn't 'ake long."

"Okay." Ryou uneasily settled back and looked outside at the dark night. He was troubled and perturbed but tried not to show it much more than shifting his eyes constantly. Malik never did too good in the dark and Ryou was afraid that Malik would do something drastic. He did rash things a lot and it got him in situations that he would better without. But that was just Malik, it was normal but normal around these parts was slowly dissolving into something out of this world.

Bakura had been something Ryou hadn't seen since he knew the other. It was a rather short time but nevertheless Bakura just didn't seem the type. For a spilt second, a mere moment when he had looked sideway at the merman's face, Ryou saw Bakura's eyes shinning with a mixture of emotions behind the layer of toughness. Relief, pleasure, and, strangest of all, worry. Bakura had tried talking in his native language (Ryou guessed that it was that) but the other side never responded back. Ryou had seen a shower of worry dawn on Bakura's sharp features and he felt something inside. A little dash of envy, he recognized and tried to push back but something else that left him light inside and a wanting to thank all the divine entities. He had the strangest feelings sometimes. Note to self: rewire emotions.

Bakura had also, like on second thought, told him, more like ordered him actually, to take the Kyroi Heledi with him. Bakura did seem somewhat hesitant telling him this but Ryou obeyed him, thinking that they would recognize him as a friend with Bakura snake thingy. It laid there snuggly on his upper right arm, its head near his shoulder, a tad clod since he hadn't worn it since he took it off. Ryou was a bit uncomfortable wearing it, it looked so much like a real snake but he knew it was necessary. He could even see the individual scales on the silver elongated body, slim and faintly pointes like the scales on Bakura's tail. Its small eyes reflected the light that shine on it when passing cars drove by them.

"'Little longer, guys," Jou announced, trying to dispel the tension and anxiety that occupied the inside of the truck.

"Okay, Jou," Yuugi said, willing to put some perkiness into his voice. The depression air was starting to be too much for him. Malik had to be fine. He was fine even though it was dark, no problem, no problem at all…. God! Something was wrong!

Jou thought indistinctly about turning on the radio to fill up the silence but he forgot about it as he saw the outline of the ocean, meaning they were getting close to the beach. Wheels screeched distinctly as he took a left, once again cursing for the fatness of the car, and drove along the beach, aiming for the pier just ahead of them. Maybe he could put the truck on a low carb diet.

The headlights shone on the road, showing that sand littered the black ground. They were getting close. Jou floored the car and was thrown back into his seat, hands fighting to stay on the steering wheel. He heard Yuugi and Ryou gasp behind him and soft thumps as they, too, were thrown backwards. At least the seats were soft. He squealed to a stop when he saw the pier walkway a ways near the beach. The walkway was just a short walk from the road. The beach itself was very close to the house but the pier was closer to the square and the road to the beach from the house only extended to the beginning of the sand. Jou doubted that this heavy truck could have gotten very far in the loose sand so he was forced to take more inconvenient roads, taking longer than he anticipated. Stupid roads, why are they not in places that they are needed in?

The truck was forced to come to screeching stop, going a few feet forwards before coming completely to a stop, four black skid marks painted the road behind the vehicle. Jou quickly yanked the key out of the key slot, making the headlights die and let the darkness fall again. Jou grabbed the seatbelt and tried to rip it off in his haste but they're not called safety belt for nothing and it refused to yield. Yuugi and Ryou unclipped their belts in a much more civil manner as Jou started trying to bite through the thick material. Not that it worked too well but Jou didn't see the shinny buckle until he heard the clicks of the seatbelt buckles in the second row and cussed himself out mentally for being so retarded.

The car doors were thrown open and the three teenagers stumbled out of the car with minimum tripping. Ryou managed to hit his slightly head off the side of the car and cried out, causing Yuugi to stagger his way around the truck, his feet almost making his trip as they got caught in the blanket he dragged out with him. They would be too heavy if he had brought out all the blankets. Once Ryou reassured Yuugi that, no, he didn't have a concussion, they made their way to where Jou called for them to hurry up.

"'Less go," Jou called and began jogging in the general direction of where the pier was suppose to be. He heard Yuugi and Ryou do their best to keep up behind him. He felt bad about dragging them out on such a cold night but they insisted that it was their duty to come along and, being totally unfair, they gave him the eyes. They knew he couldn't resist the eyes.

"But Jou," Ryou called out, shivering in the frozen salty air. Ryou was also decked out in his pajamas but, thankfully, they were made of wool and they gave him more protection. And as a plus he had managed to yank on his shoes while hopping down the stairs. It was a miracle he didn't fall on his face. "We can't see a thing! We need some kind of light. I think there's a flashlight in one of the compartments in the truck." Ryou's arms shot out to steady Yuugi as he made to trip again. Yuugi gave him a thankful smile, not that Ryou could see it but Ryou knew that Yuugi gave it because that was how Yuugi worked. Someone did him a favor and he said thank you one way of another.

"I dun need no ligh-" Jou started to say before his foot sank into the ground and his front collided with something hard. "Uff!" Jou coughed and blinked confusedly before realizing that he had run into one of the palm trees that decorated the edge of the beach. "Okay may'be I do need dat light."

"Jou," Yuugi whispered, shuffling across the ground and into sand. He ignored the uncomfortable feeling of sand in his slippers and made sure Jou was okay, laughing a little. He tried to pat Jou's forehead where he hit himself but ended up poking Jou in the eye.

"Ow, Yuuge," Jou whined, covering his face lest something else flies into it and causes him more harm.

"Gosh, sorry, Jou, I'm sorry," Yuugi said quickly, drawing his hands back into his chest and squinting into where Jou's face should be to evaluate if Jou should be rushed into the hospital or not. That was kind of hard seeing that he could be staring at a flying fish for all he knew.

"Stay here and I will go and get the torch," Ryou called out and made his way to where he thought the truck was. Did they turn left? If they did then he would have to go right or did they go right before? Wait, where was right? Where was straight anyway? Gah! He had no idea where the thing was. Oh, God, he didn't want to think about what he just stepped on.

Ryou mentally checked on Jou's and Yuugi's location behind him as he waved his hands carefully in arcs in front of him, hoping that he would hit the cold metal of the truck. He heard the waves lapping at the shore and looked up. A new moon shone in the curtain of night, surrounded by pinpricks of light that made pictures in the black sky. If Ryou recalled correctly if the moon was full or new then the tide was very high, a spring tide. And Malik was on the pier that would be encompassed in water at the highest point. This was not good. He hoped Malik could swim.

"Where are you?" he murmured as if calling the truck would make it appear. To his immense surprise his hands knocked into something cold, hard, and smooth no less than three seconds later. "Oh." Ryou had the strangest urge to pet the truck and tell it what a good boy it had been. Or girl? What gender are cars anyway?

Ryou, keeping his hand on the truck's paintjob, inched his way around the truck and searched for a car door handle. His hand knocked into the rear view mirror before sliding down the window and onto the driver door's handle. To Ryou's gratitude, it seemed like Jou had forgotten to lock the doors. That was dangerous; it could have been stolen by some felonious character. There is no better way to destroy his uncle's trust better than to have his truck stolen and an expensive truck at that. Hello, uncle how was your trip? Oh, mine was fine, we swam on the beach, visited the mall, had your truck stolen, played some games. Thanks for the invite!

Um, yeah.

Ryou opened the car door and narrowed his eyes, staring to see beyond the dark interior of the car. He ran his hands down the driver's seat and climbed on in, settling on his knees. Ryou quickly located the compartment under the co-pilot's seat and pulled it open. There were maps, pens, a first aid kit, and several other things useful to a road trip. Ryou began to think that he was mistake and there was no flashlight in there but then his hand grabbed on to the small cylinder and he pulled it out with a relived sigh. He pushed the white button and light flashed into his eyes, making him look away hastily. Well, it worked.

With the light, it was easier to shuffle his way out of the truck. His feet hit the ground and he shut the door, wishing he had the key that where in Jou's pocket to lock it safely. Against his better thinking, he left it alone and made his way to where his friends where suppose to be. It was much easier going now that he could see where he was going.

"Ryou, you found the flashlight!" Yuugi said, beaming, narrowing his eyes as the beam of light shone his way.

"Yeah, now we can avoid trees," Ryou said, cocking his head and smiling playfully.

"Wiseass," Jou muttered. He had been leaning against the tree, not willing to take another step in the treacherous night. He could see why Malik hated it so.

Ryou just smiled and shone the light around on the floor, catching the sands. "Let's go."

Jou and Yuugi instantly followed Ryou as they made their careful way across the sand, keeping close to Ryou. The salty air hit them in the face, making their hair fly backwards and the distant crashing of waves became louder in their ears as they picked their way to the pier. It was creeping Ryou out a little that he couldn't hear the seagulls that always seemed to hang around when he was at beaches. It was just quiet and that didn't settle well with him very much.

They shuffled along for about a few minutes with minimum mishaps. The beam of light traced the sand ahead of them, making the way clear until it landed on a wooden pillar stuck in the ground about ten feet ahead of them. Ryou felt relief at the sight then worriment as he swung the light around the beginning of the pier and saw no sign that Malik was there. Did he move somewhere else?

"Oi! Guys!" Ryou snapped his head up to look at the rapidly approaching figure and was promptly bowled over like a pin in a bowling alley. Ryou gasped his friends yelped behind him and jumped away; the flashlight arced through the air and landed on the soft sand. Ryou coughed and blinked the sand out of his eyes, waving a hand to get Malik off of him. He was on his back in the semi-wet sand and he did not appreciate Malik's suffocating hug at this very moment even though they had been worrying about him and gallantly went to rescue him in the dead night. Well, at least they knew that Malik was alright and healthy.

"Holy-! Don't do that," Yuugi said weakly, feeling his heart beat like a frenzy drum in his chest. He nearly made Yuugi jump out of his skin. He looked down with a chuckle that he tried to hide at Ryou's position.

"You're crushing Ryou, you git," Jou huffed, unconsciously letting the tension on his shoulders drip off. They were all here and Malik seemed to be in one piece if not a little wet and dirty.

"Wah! Ryou! I missed you so much! It was horrible!" Marik cried, digging his face in Ryou's shirt and subjecting the albino to the torture that was his hug. "It was so dark and- Light!"

Ryou felt his breath leave his lungs and wheezed as Malik pushed himself off Ryou and snatched the flashlight that Jou picked up from his hands, clutching to his chest so that the beam of light shone under his chin, weaving his face in shadows. Kind of like those storytellers in summer camps that try to be scary so that all the little campers would pee their pants. Malik instantly felt the panic that had started sprouting out of him melt away with the calm reassurance of the light. Light always made things better just as darkness hides everything.

"Some gratitude ya shows us," Jou muttered with narrowed eyes as Yuugi helped Ryou to his feet, who shook his clothes free of sand once he had gotten his footing. Here they are in the cold night when they could be in their warm beds and this is all he says? He shouldn't have bothered.

"Jou, Yuugi, Ryou," Malik said breathlessly, shakily smiling. "Thanks for coming, I was starting to panic." Now that was something he wouldn't have said to any stranger but these were his friends and he now felt safer than before. But it still rattled him, what happened…

Jou glanced at him before grinning widely, slapping Malik on the shoulder. "Ya were really statrin' ta give us a heart attack, ya know. It's not like ya ta stay out so late like dis." He mentally frowned at the coldness of Malik skin under his hand. If there was one thing Malik hated more than the dark it was the cold. What could have caused him to out here in the dark and cold?

"Are you alright, Malik?" Yuugi asked softly, not liking the vibes he was picking up from his friend. He was shaken up inside, Yuugi could see the same shaking of his hands and the wavering smile. "Who did you meet out here that knew Bakura?" Maybe he could coax the answer out of him gently.

That's when it all came back in a thunderclap. The mermen and their favor (if that's what you want to call it)! They apparently went to the tide pools about a quarter of a mile south of the pier. Seto said that there were some characters behind them that they were trying to get away from. Maybe those characters had something to do with what happened to Bakura's back and why he had landed on the beach. It was a matter of life or death…surely the guy was just exaggerating. But, even with only knowing the guy for a few minutes, he certainly wasn't the type to exaggerate, in fact, he looked like he would dislike exaggerations. That made no sense.

Bakura never told them why he was there. They only knew that the storm had blown him to shore but that didn't explain all his wounds. He was keeping a secret from them, probably a big one. And so did these other fish dudes. Malik didn't own them anything. He didn't have to go and he had a half a mind to send them a letter by mail saying tough luck, buckos. In fact he was planning to do just that.

But at that very moment a picture flew by and burned in his mind. Trusting violet eyes. Marik, the stalker merman, smiled at him with all the trust that any creature should be sued to have. Why could he shake off that feeling? That feeling that he would be…betraying the other if he walked away now. This didn't even make sense. This shouldn't be happening now or ever for that matter.

No, Malik thought viciously, that guy deserves whatever comes to him. He wanted to walk away but as soon as he took that first step guilt rose up and made his shift uncomfortably under his friend's confused gazes. Damn, why was his conscious deciding to break out right at this moment? He really wanted to beat it back with a stick. But, seeing as there were no sticks around, he decided to go with the next best thing.

Operation Ignore Annoying Little Voice in His Head.

"Let's go, it's cold out here," Malik announced, still gripping his flashlight. "I'm fine Yuugi. Let's just go home, alright?" He saw Yuugi frown lightly and switched to Ryou who, hopefully, would cave in more easily. "Look there was some guys here but they're gone now so I don't know where they are. Forget it."

Oh, surely Malik would know it that pathetic line wouldn't pass through him. Jou reached out and poked Malik in the forehead, making him blink then scowl. "We came all dis way for ya, da least ya can do is tell us da truth."

"Malik," Ryou said softly, trying to ignore the wishful part of him that wanted to be back at the nice warm house. "What's wrong?" Ryou wanted Malik to tell them if only to tell Bakura after. Bakura had been alarmed back when he was talking to the others over the walkie-talkie and he sent them to help. But how could Ryou help when he didn't know how or why? He didn't want to let Bakura down but he could force the answer out of Malik either. As much as it pained him, Malik came first as his friend and it really did pain him.

Malik wanted to tell them, he really did but he didn't want to be a bother. He had enough experience that being a bother would just make people around him wander off. No, these were his friends, his only real friends that he could count on other than his sister. He could tell them. He had no reason to hide it from them. He wanted to hide it from himself.

"I," he hesitated before sighing softly. The other three leaned in closely, anticipating what he was going to tell them. This could be important. "Got sand in my pants!"

"Ya got what?" Jou blinked and looked at him skeptically. Then he scowled and hit Malik in the head, stealing his flashlight with the other hand before Malik could blink. "Ya idiot! Dat da last time I go out in da freakin' night ta go look for ya!" He ignored Malik's loud complaint against the smack, crossed his arms, and marched angrily back to the truck, swearing profanities all the way.

"Wait, Jou!" Yuugi called out, torn between staying and chasing Jou. His gaze met Ryou's, who nodded softly. Yuugi gave Ryou an appreciative smile and an apologetic look at Malik then chased after Jou, tripping clumsily over his sheets which were already getting dirty because of the sand. He would have to do laundry tomorrow. He knew Ryou would take care of Malik just fine.

"What did I do?" Malik puffed and planted his hands on his hips. Inside he slightly wilted at the angry face Jou flashed at his over his shoulder. If he didn't want to tell then he didn't have to. That's Malik's law.

Ryou sighed then looked at his friends that were walking away. Yuugi trying to calm Jou while the other just kept shaking his head and walking. Ryou noticed that as they were leaving, the light seemed to be leaving with them. Well, unless they followed them they would be stuck in the dark and, with a sneaked look in Malik's direction, he could see the other thought the same.

"We should go," Ryou said, looking down at the moonlight that shone on the sands. It would be a wonderful experience to walk on a beach at night. Maybe he would be able to do it sometimes soon. Maybe he could even bring someone with him then he dismissed the thought, flushing faintly. Like that would ever happen. "Be-because if we stay, we may have to go in the dark."

"Yeah," Malik breathed, feeling the cold _night_ air filling his lungs. "I'll apologize to Jou in the car. I suppose I deserved that." He ran a hand through his hair as Ryou gave him a approving nod. So nice to think that at least someone in this world thinks he's doing something right.

They managed to catch up with Yuugi and Jou in a few minutes, seeing as going in moonlight in a beach at night would give a person a lot of chances to step wrong and sink faster than a cat after a wounded mouse. Jou looked to be fairly pissed off but was calming down as Yuugi talked softly to him in that way that made him seem like he was going to make everything better. He had that gift. Gift? Giiiiffffttt…Why did he have the feeling that he forgot something?

Malik wisely kept his mouth shut though he mumbled an apology that sounded like some kind of weird gurgling but Jou managed to catch the main idea and shook his head, but the small smile on his face told Malik he had been grudgingly forgiven. For now at least.

"Malik, didn't you buy anything at the mall?" Ryou asked softly on a whim. It had bugged for a while. The Malik he knew wouldn't go ten feet in front of a store, much less a mall, and come out empty handed even in he came in broke. He tended to oversee little problems like that even though Ryou would promptly make him return whatever it was if he was close enough at the time to catch him in the act.

Malik snapped his fingers, face drawing so much comprehension a person would think he figured out the answer to life. "That's it! Ryou, you're a money saver. Tell the guys to wait up a bit." So Malik bounded up, snatched the flashlight from Jou, much to his outrage, and bounded back to the pier with Jou's shouts at his back.

"Oi! Come back 'ere! Lil' ungrat'ful bast'erd!"

So Malik soon bounded back, happy as a rabbit with two bags in each hand, flashlight tucked under his arm. He was happy to see that his bags were dry and positively un-destroyed. Jou snatched the flashlight back and stomped away, face stiff like he was trying not to laugh but scowl. It made him look constipated.

Malik raised an eyebrow at the truck, noticing it wasn't Jou's pride and joy, but tossed his bags in the space of seat in between Yuugi and Ryou in the second row seat and climbed in just the same in the co-pilot's seat, itching to grab the wheel. He hadn't driven in ages, even a wheel instead of his motorbike handlebars would be fine but he doubted Jou would thank him for that. Malik knew when his limits where.

He felt himself relax as Jou started the car and Ryou and Yuugi started a soft conversation. He knew they would come for him. Contrary to what Jou said, Malik believe with all his heart in his friends. They weren't like normal friends, those friends who are allies one day then enemies the next. They knew each other for a few years, ever since the beginning of middle school but they were closer to him than anybody else not counting Ishizu.

He felt his eyes droop, sleepiness starting to show in him and he looked lazily to the window, seeing dark figures moving slowly past as the truck began moving, gravel crunching under the tires. About time. He wanted to sleep in his bed and be dead to the world for a good solid ten hours.

"_We'll be waiting human-pretty." _The unexpected words vibrated fiercely in his mind, filling his stomach with the feeling of sickly tentacles. Guilt. He uneasily touched his stomach with a tanned hand as if fisting his shirt would make the unwelcome feeling go away. No, nonononononononon, no. He could not be thinking of going back for those jerk wad mermen. He already planned that he would not be going back. Why would be even have the faintest thought of doing that? It didn't make sense. It wasn't like him to help jerks. Well at least blue-eyes was a jerk, he wasn't so sure about the others. They seemed okay.

"_This is either life or death for us so if you value your pathetic life then you'll be there."_ Now there was a sentence to warm the heart. Who did he think he was, king? Well, he wasn't. But something still nagged him. Why had Seto asked such a thing of him when he clearly didn't trust him? Life or death, to someone that was supposedly 'under him'?

His eye caught something and he desperately grabbed the chance to distract him but instead it set his heart thumping faster than was healthy. He knew this place; he had passed it on his way to the pier before. They were heading south.

Malik bit his lip so hard he almost broke through the skin and his hand clenched tighter. He could feel the pressure of the dark purple- so trusting- on his shoulders, making him sink lower into his seat. He fingered the seatbelt distractedly. He was drastically torn and his eyes flickered back and forth, heart and breath coming faster as the crucial fork in the road came closer and closer. So close, in fact, he felt it in his bones. He didn't know what to do! He should- he should-

"_I promise we'll meet soon."_

It was coming closer. No- he shouldn't- didn't want to-

Warm, trusting voice saying, _"I know you'll come back to me." _Eyes snapped at Jou and his mouth opened without his consent.

"TURN!"

And, startled, Jou yanked the wheel to the left, throwing them all to the right side of the truck.

* * *

"That's your plan?" Yami stared incredulously at Seto, his jaw hanging so open that he was momentarily afraid that a passing barracuda would swim through so he closed it with an audible snap. He just couldn't believe that out of all the plans Seto had in his twisted little mind he came out with that one. "Do you how utterly impossible that would be? I barely know the basics as it is and you want me to do that?"

"I don't like this any better than you do," Seto said stiffly, eyeing the landscape as water dripped down his face. Did Yami actually think he was in love with this plan? "But this is the most fool-proof one I could think of. So shut up." He fixed Yami's wide eyes with narrowed ones that dared him to say another word.

Yami just glared back and began thinking about everything he had read and that Mahado taught him for any more ideas in what to do. This was insane. Yami hadn't even done a spell close to that and if he messed up then the results would be disastrous. No, they would chaotic. He didn't even want to think about the consequences. Yami even remembered a time when he was thirteen and asked about it. Mahado had looked at him with the strangest look possible and told him that no one had succeeded doing it alone and to erase such notions from his head.

But he wasn't alone.

"I think it's a good idea," Marik said gladly, feeling like he should put in his opinion. He loved that idea, absolutely loved it. It was the best idea that Seto had ever had and that was saying something.

"Of course you would," Yami said, fixing a slightly amused look at him then ran a hand through his drooping hair and blew the stray blond strands out of his face uneasily. Sending all this time out of water could not be healthy for a merman. Of course, Yami scowled, that wouldn't be a problem later on.

"It's practically fool-proof so even Marik would be able to do it," Seto said sneering slightly and examining his fingernails as Marik protested then he shook his head. "We don't have time for anymore distractions." He looked at Marik meaningfully who just sniffed and looked up at the night sky.

Yami brought his attention back to his probe and saw that the squad had already arrived at the pier or somewhere around there as the green color grew darker. Shit, they barely managed to escape their clutches. If they had waited a moment loner, well, he didn't want to think of what could have happened. "Shit, Seto," he hissed. "If I didn't know you so well I would have believed that you are out of your fucking mind."

Secretly Seto also believed that he was 'out of his fucking mind.' But he would rather die than to admit it. Hm, he would just have to convince Yami otherwise. "So you're saying that you don't know how to do it?" Seto drawled slowly, smirking at yami in a way that he knew the other couldn't ignore.

Yami glared at the smirk. "Of course, I know how," Yami snapped.

"So the only other option of why you wouldn't want to do it is that you can't." Seto's smirk grew wider as Yami's eyes darkened and his lips threatened to snarl. "Do it, that is."

"I never said that I didn't want to do it," Yami snapped again, fisting his hands. Seto was questioning his magical power and no one was allowed to do that, old childhood friend or not.

"But you can't do it, can you?"

"I never said that either!"

"But you keep dodging around the answer so I can only conclude that that's the case."

"Well, I can also conclude that with all the questions you're asking me that you are the one who can't do it." Beat that, Kaiba.

Oh, touché. "You're the supposedly acclaimed best magic user in Taikai and it would be a shame to discredit that now wouldn't?"

"I would only dishonor the title if I refuse to and admit that it is beyond my ability which it isn't!"

"Really, somehow I doubt that."

"Oh, like you don't say that everyday! Fine, I'll do the stupid spell but if something goes wrong and, at the risk of sounding like you, it will all be your fault."

Hook, line, and sinker.

Seto knew him too well. Well, it was his fault, really, for falling for it even when it was obvious what was happening but he couldn't ignore it. Seto knew all his weaknesses. A downside of having such an observant fellow around him too much. "I really hate you so much right now," Yami informed him and cracked both his knuckles in preparation. He racked his brain for everything he would need, already warming up to the dangerous challenge. Seto knew that he lived for challenges.

Perfect. Seto's smirk vanished and he glanced around the tide pools. It really was more of one big tide pool with smaller tide pools inside. It cut a rough semicircle into the rocky shoreline, sand turning darker with each crashing wave. The waves were bigger than normal as the tide was going into its high peak. The tide pool was actually deeper than a normal one, leaving them enough room to have enough water between them and the rocks to float on the surface. Giant hunks of rock perched around the tide pools like a sea cliff around them so that any humans passing on the other side would have no chance of seeing them. He had passed this place and scouted it just in case they needed it for something.

"Come to papa," Marik whispered, gleefully reaching for a hermit crab which did its best to scurry away from the fearsome hands. It tucked into its shell as he lifted it into the air and looked down the opening with one eye closed. Hi, little fleshy crabbie.

"Stop playing with the crustacean, Marik," Seto said as Marik stuck his tongue out at him and flicked the shell away. It bounded of some rock and the slipped underwater. "Watch for that little human of yours." That aught to keep him entertained and in silence for Yami to continue preparing. Even though Seto would have preferred for him to do it faster, he said nothing.

"Ja," Marik nodded enthusiastically and rearranged himself so he was as close to sitting on the edge of a sticking out rock formation, he narrowed his eyes through the darkness and shaded his eyes with a hand like those sailors in books that he had distractedly peaked at from behind Yami's shoulder. He didn't know why they did it as it didn't help much but that might be because there was no sunshine to block. Hmm. Now there's a thought.

It was amusing to see Marik perched like a seagull but whatever. "Fine," Yami said shortly, glancing at his magi lines with reluctance. They were moving their way now and they didn't have much time left not that they had much of it from the beginning but, once again, whatever. "We have about ten minutes tops so we better start now."

"Shit," Seto cursed. If only that idiot human got here by now. He had no choice now. If they waited too long for the human to get here then they wouldn't make it and if they did it now then, well, that was their only option. "Do it now."

"I hope I disfigure you," Yami said darkly.

"For your health I hope not," Seto retorted just as threatening.

And Marik was still looking around, peering through the telescope he made with his hands.

Yami sighed then closed his eyes. This probably was going to be the hardest spell he was ever going to do. Part of him was irritated that Seto asked him of this but he could see from where Seto was coming from. It was a good but highly risky plan. The other part of him was his ego. Seto would only trust him to do this complicated spell that could easily go wrong on them. He had never done this before but he would never know until he tried. Unfortunately, this could be the only time he would ever try this. Well, isn't he Mr. Negativity?

Yami felt his magic rise up and knew that his eyes turned gold inside his eyelids. He slowly lowered his hands until the fingertips touched the surface of the water, soft as water-skippers. He took deep breaths as he felt the water around him start to move, sloshing with the power he was slowly fusing with the liquid. This was going to release the biggest magi signal ever but whatever (once again).

Seto calculated the unmoving Yami with his gaze then beckoned Marik to get closer to Yami. Marik pouted at him but, when Seto glared at him, moved closer until both of them were three feet from either side of Yami. Marik held barely contained excitement on his face and Seto mentally snorted. Only he would be that bouncy at a time like this. If Seto was anybody else he would have been praying to whatever god there was but he was Seto so he sat there stoically, waiting for it to start. He was going to regret this later was he not? Yes.

The merman body was similar where a human's upper body was concerned. Yami knew this because of the studies in his books where the author studied the bodies of drowned humans. Freaky, yeah, but how else could they study humans without said humans seeing merpeople studying them? Well, their upper bodies were basically the same but with significant differences. Right behind their ears they have gills made from filaments. Unlike real fish that drink water, their gills draw in water and pump it through their gill filaments, drawing out the oxygen then pushing the water back out. The oxygen then goes around like a normal human, through the veins to the heart. However they also have a swim bladder that helps them keep afloat. But the main different between their structures happens in the lower body. Instead of having the spine stop at the human's hips, merpeople's spines expand to where the tail ends. Their blood is also much thicker than a human's, making them hot blooded. Very useful when they mostly lived in freezing temperatures.

Now that he reviewed everything he knew about their body structure that he remembered, he was ready to do the impossible.

* * *

"I'm goin'ta chap ya up inta lil'pieces so small dey won't fit in a cheerio, shove dem in a blender den kill ya by suffocation," Jou was muttering darkly as he grumpily followed, stubbing his toe on a rock and cursing even more loudly. "An' I'll revive ya- somehow-and…" He trailed off still thinking forebodingly to what to do to his friend for being so damn…Malik-like.

"Malik, where are we going?" Yuugi said nervously as he hugged his blanket closer to his small form. "Malik!" he called as Malik ignored him.

"Look, I'll tell you when we get there okay?" Malik responded over his shoulder, feeling the cold night air fill his lings to the brim. He swung the beam of light around the ground and he skittishly walked on the rocky uneven ground.

Why was he here in the first place? Didn't his conscience get the memo that he was not going to help those jerks? Stupid guilt, stupid heart, stupid dark violet eyes. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Why are we," Ryou said breathlessly, trying to keep up with Malik. He could hear waves crashing loudly to his left and he tried to avoid landing in small puddles of water. He was tried of being wet so often and he was mildly annoyed at these wild goose chases that Malik kept dragging around. "Going (huff) in the dir(huff)ection of the (cough) other side of town?" Why on earth would Malik want to go there? Honestly…

"Technically," Malik panted, seeing the end of the cliff rock and walking faster so that his friends had to jog in order to grudgingly keep up with him. Almost there…"We're going to that big hunk of rock over there." Malik pointed to the said hunk of rock, the cave-like formation that sheltered the tide pools.

"An' jus' why are we goin' dere?" Jou retorted wryly, trying to herd his friends into not losing sight Malik. Because if they lose Malik, they lose the flashlight and if they lose the flashlight, they lose the light, and if they lose the light, they will possibly lose their footing and their pride. Ah-hah, not happening.

"Honestly," Malik blinked, cocking his head sideways as his eyes widened. "I have no idea. And is it just me or is there fireworks going on over there." Malik abruptly stopped, almost causing Jou to crash into him.

"Wat's da big idea?" Jou snapped before following Malik's pointing finger and gaping almost comically.

"Oh my," Ryou gasped as Yuugi was shocked speechless. "Is that…" He left the question hanging since his complete attention was brought to the amazing display of light dancing in the sky directly in front of them.

"Freaky fish lightshow," Malik affirmed, his throat feeling quite dry.

Right above the edge of the cliff cave-rock thing was a dazzling display of light. Well, that may be exaggerating but it was shocking nevertheless especially since the 4th of July had already passed. The air above the tide pools was glowing a soft but fierce red with a dark yellow, almost a bright gold. Yuugi immediately linked it to the Northern Lights since it was the closet description he could recall. He had only seen those colors in old paintings or equally old coins. It took his breath away and, somehow, he wasn't cold anymore. The air around them had turned warmer the closer they got as they inched their way across the sand. Yuugi's favorite color was purple thought, right there and then, he changed it to gold and red.

Ryou was about to say something, that this was a bad idea and they should go home but he never got the chance to since something unexpected happened. He felt a tightening on his upper right arm. He almost jumped out of his skin but glanced almost fearfully at what lay there. "Guys!" Ryou cried in alarm.

They had barely torn their gaze off the sky and turned their heads to look when two beams of pure sliver light flashed out of the Kyroi Heledi's beady red eyes with a force that made Ryou stagger and nearly fall over, slicing the night like shinning swords through black paper. Ryou felt a sense of wonder and slight fear in the pit of his guts as he knew, somehow, that this was Bakura's magic reaching out into the sky. They watched in rapture as the twin beams of sliver arced through the sky, aiming straight towards the glowing piece of sky above the tide pools.

Ryou had to grab onto the side of the small cliff as the force of the lights pushed him with more and more force. He cried out as his back was digging into the rocks painfully, one hand grabbing the slippery sides of the Kyroi Heledi in a vain attempt the yank it off. He was scared. Bakura wasn't here but his magic was here, through the bonding talisman. Bakura wasn't here to control it.

There was a soundless boom as the beams of light finally entered the atmosphere of the dancing gold and red lights. The lights shone with a greater intensity and the sliver mixed in with the other colored lights, making shadows in light. Jou took a step back hastily as he lifted one hand to shade his eyes and even then he had to squint. Now _this_ was what he called a lightshow.

* * *

As much as he hated to admit it he was worried.

Of course with worry being such a lame and useless emotion he rarely told anybody (worth talking to which would be Yami, Seto, or Marik) and then immediately deny it seconds after then deny it again when the confused person told him he just said it. Emotions were never his strong point so he never said a word about them whenever he could.

So, all in all, it was very odd to be wallowing in worry at that very moment. Bakura was worried, yes, you read right. His friends were who knows where and when he finally found them (via attacking black pod) they just dropped dead. Or t least the connection dropped dead. Stupid useless piece of human technology, Bakura fumed. Oh, yeah, humans are sooo advanced with their little 'tell phones' and 'walking talkies.' They can't even connect right.

Bakura frowned as he stared at the boring concrete ceiling. It was killing him not to be able to do anything, here in the pool under the ground which just sounded stupid to him. If they wanted a puddle of water under the ground then go find a spring or something. And why do they have such creepy tasting water? The water in the container which he first woke up tasted funky and now this water tasted too thin-like. What it their problem with not leaving things like they should? This was going to end up mutating him, he just knew it.

Now there was another part to his restlessness, the boredom. He had never experienced boredom like this before where he could just stare at the ceiling or swim around in the same patterns over and over and over again. Even in his lessons he had at least some form of entertainment even if it was just make faces at his mentor when his back was turned. Not very entertaining the forty-sixth time around but it was something to do. Now, here, there was nothing to do but think which was one of the things he hated, being that his mind always brought up the oddest things. But lately his mind had been invaded by a certain human, Ryou.

Now the little human was very different. Not the 'human has legs and I don't' type of different but more of a 'you're an odd creature and ever after hours of staring at you I still don't see the logic' type of different. Not that he had been staring at the human or anything, just a figure of speech. Ahem, so as he was saying Ryou was just odd. He came everyday to bring him his meals and smiled at him with that shy smile that felt heartfelt. He would then sit down and have a conversation with them, talking about unimportant things. Usually Bakura hated having people talk to him without reason but something about how he talked, the light and soft tone, made him unable to tell Ryou that his presence was annoying him. It was nice in a way to talk to someone and Bakura noticed that Ryou stuck firmly to idle topics like favorite colors or fun times he and his friends had. He never ventured into more personal zones like family or childhood; like he was giving Bakura his space or he was uncomfortable with things like those. He was grateful for it either way since he had no desire to talk about dark things like that with creatures he didn't trust. Even after everything, he didn't trust Ryou. He wanted to. Oddly enough, but he stopped himself resolutely. He couldn't afford any mistakes and it would be a mistake, a big one, if the human turned on him. He doubted that but in his experience it was better safe than sorry.

Those damn imbeciles he called friends better not be in the granite cages. He had seen them and it wasn't a fate he would wish on his worst enemy. Well, actually, it depended on how angry he was at the time but still even by his standards it was harsh and his standards were brutal. Prisoners didn't even last a month.

They better not be wasting their time, Bakura thought darkly. Because if they are I'll- Fucking shi-!

Bakura gasped as he felt his magic blaze up inside him, lighting his eyes to an almost intense silver. He gritted his teeth as his magi levels rose higher and higher, sending his body temperature to massive levels. He grasped the sides of his body as pain flared in his chest like puffer fish stings. What the hell? Bakura tried to push down on his magic, trying to force it back to rest but for the first time in his life his magic completely ignored his efforts, rising fast and mercilessly.

"Shit!" he rasped, feeling sweat running down his face and he thrashed in the water, trying to grab hold of the ledge of the pool. He needed to do something. He didn't know what was going on but his head was suddenly housing the king of all headaches, hot iron pokers smashing through to his brain.

Bakura held in the scream that was ripping through his lungs in frustration and pain. He couldn't breathe, the heat was too stifling and his lungs couldn't work. He was hot-blooded, every merperson was and even small fevers often were causes of alarm. With the fever their body temperature increased even more that its already high levels. This certainly was much more horrible than a fever.

His hand managed to find the ledge and he grasped it as his vision grayed around the edges, making him see double. He was hot, too hot. His skin felt like it was melting off and cooking everything inside him. He couldn't take much more of this. Maybe he was dying? It was the only expiation he could come up with.

No, he couldn't die! Not yet, not when Seto, Yami, and Marik are out there with his father at their tails. It was his fault, his fault for loosing his temper. He had to fix this, he had to. He would die, he won't!

His bones were twisting; he could feel the sickening sensation of his own flexible bones snapping inside him. He gasped, frantically trying to force air into his lungs, his gills flapping furiously. The air was too hot, too thick for it to travel downwards into where it was needed. He could feel his body starting to shut down, his heart beating faster than it ever had in his life, squeezing out whatever it could, sending rivers of agony down his veins.

Bakura's vision was turning black and his head felt too heavy. His throat was too dry. He was burning. He blindly tried to jerk his skin off with his free hand to get the boiling hot skin off him, anything just to get it to STOP. He could feel blood start to travel down his arm and back but he didn't care. His mind was hazy, he was going to faint. He couldn't faint because if he did he knew he would never wake up. His skin was turning a livid red all over his body and his hands were clenched together as if the bones in his hands locked and refused to relax.

Bakura's dry throat coughed horribly, sending his body into violent spasms. His arms jerked and he lost his grip on the edge, nails scrapping the edge as a futile try to grab it again. Bakura barely felt himself submerge in water, the temperate of his body seemed to increase with each second, paying no heed to the cool water. In fact the temperature difference went needles of ice throughout his whole body; his brain was melting in his head. Bakura couldn't see anything, his vision was black. His magic was roasting him alive from the inside.

His whole body thrashed in the water, trying to get some form of relief from the water. The only thing that made it though his brain was when his back collided with the bottom of the pool. His body jerked as if electrocuted, the bottom of the pool sending waves of pain to his nerves as it met the scorching skin on his back. He was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. He was going to die. This was the worst form of torture imaginable.

But the worst was still to come.

He couldn't feel anything over then the heat, the bloody, scorching HEAT. Everything in him was shutting down but he barely felt the panic; all he could properly feel was the throbbing of boiling blood that seemed to be spilling from his veins into his insides. His lungs were squeezing so hard inside him they were going to explode; his heart was working so hard it almost jumped out of his chest; his stomach was curling in itself like an ice cube in boiling water. The high temperature was stuffing his ears and making them ring, sending even more pain to his body. His blood was molten lava, trying to eat itself out of him.

Then his tail clenched. The flesh in his tail throbbed with bone-crunching intensity and the way this tail was twisting and pulling was adding to his agony. He was blindly lashing out in the water, yearning for anything to make this pain stop. Where was the fucking off switch?

The a blinding, forceful white light erupted behind his sightless eyes at the same times as his tail seemed to split in two as if a knife had stabbed him right below the waits and been slowly dragged down to the tip of his tail, the intensity and power of the force throwing him into unconsciousness. For a few peaceful seconds the pain and heat melted away then he was thrust back into the waking world with heat and suffocation wrapped around him so tightly he didn't even feel the water around him. He would have happy sold his soul to the devil in a heartbeat to relive those seconds again. His scales were turning an ugly brown and stone gray as the tips were an angry red. He didn't care as they cracked off and fell off one by one to the bottom of the pool but Bakura did care about the new waves of pain that came as the venerable flesh underneath was exposed to the heat around him.

He roared with such force he felt his throat turn raw. His heart was shutting down, he could feel it and the beatings vibrated in him. It was beating too fast, too strained against the inside of his chest. His hands were curled uselessly in the water, unable to move as the pinpricks overwhelmed the flesh.

A sickening crunch split through his roars of pain. He couldn't see anything over than black and white, changing from one to the other in seconds. If he could have been able to see he would have stared in morbid fascination as the sides of his tail, pulled in opposite directions as if hands held the mostly scale-less flash and wanted to rip it apart. The cartilage that made up his tail was ripped away as a thin line of no flesh started to appear in the middle of his tail, tearing it in half. With one last yank that almost killed his heart, the tail that use to propel him through the salty waters of the Pacific Ocean now lay in two parts, on either side of him.

Bakura's hazy mind barely registered the fact that the outer layer of his parted tail began hardening, a tough layer of pink and red cracked over his flesh like a soft shell. His muscles constricted, making him throw his head back for a silent scream. Popping noises cracked the air as one half of the tail bended in half, the slick pink cover stretching painfully. The lower parts twisted and formed into flat planes with five stubs. His midsection twisted around and heat speared his stomach with vigor.

Bakura folded his new appendages instinctively against his chest. His vision was flicking back to normal colors, blurry and double but he closed his eyes almost right away as pressure threatened to pop them out of their sockets. He was thanking and rethinking any gods he could remember was the heat was slowly trickling out of him as if through a hole of some sort.

It seemed like years later before the heat had deflated enough for him to take his first lungful of water in ages, his lungs extending almost excruciatingly wide in his ribcage. His gills flapped like bird wings, helping his mouth and nose with taking in oxygen from the funky tasting water. His relief was so immense he could almost sing but he didn't. His whole body weighed so much, like rocks had been stuffed into the layers of muscle under his skin. Ha lay there, at the bottom of the pool, limp like a starfish unable to move or maybe, just not wanting to.

But he couldn't give up.

He had to stay awake.

He had to fucking stay awake!

He wanted to drop dead, truthfully. Bakura wanted to drop out of the world of the living and stay there. This wasn't him. He was coherent enough to realize that. He was the guy who would never give up no matter what live threw at him. Bakura was always the one to throw it back in Life's face and laugh loudly. He would not let a little fever get him down in the slumps.

Okay, so it was more than a little fever. He had already established that little fact. But, right now, he didn't care about where it came from even though he knew he should. He was going to kill the fuckers that did this. Of course that was if it wasn't his own body didn't turn against him or something like that. Pffff, why would it do that? It wouldn't that's why. He has a very good body (in more ways than one, he helpfully added). So, following that choice of logic, he was going to find some major ass to pummel to the ground. His body was back to normal temperature now, cold like it usually is. Well, it was now a little too cold.

Too cold? What is this?

Then he blacked out before he could feel any shame for doing so.

* * *

It was often said that the Chasm of Salain was a haunted and damned place. There was no solid proof that it had really been cursed but that did not stop rumors especially when an exiled merman chose that place as his home, well out of the borders of Taikai. It was possible that the rumors were created merely to make sure no merchild or merperson crossed into the dark waters into the exile's territory and get in his clutches. There have been no seen merpeople crossing into the Chasm and, even if the rumors were false, they had been enough to stir fear and unease in the underwater citizens and they, in return, left the place alone.

Part of that was the feeling the place gave off. No healthy plants grew in the deep underwater cliff and only the most fearsome of creatures dared to come near it. It was the biggest gorge in the ocean's bottom that ever was made. No one knew where it came from but it has been there for eons. It was a giant wound in the ground, about three miles wide and it stretched far into the next oceans. The waters of the abyss were as dark as sin with no natural light as if even the sun's rays couldn't pierce the dark's shell. It has been said that terrifying monsters abide in the depths. The Kraken, the Leviathan, and Charybdis are all said to lurk at the bottom, in the dark, waiting for their next meal. In fact there had only been one merman insane to attempt to go all the way to the bottom and that was one of the mermen he was looking for.

He's only been here before once and it hadn't been a very pleasant experience to say the least. He wouldn't have been here if he had any other choice but there wasn't and he wasn't going to let all his hard work go to waste because of a lunatic who refused to give him the book if he wasn't there personally. It annoyed him but it made sense. Direct exchange would be the least risky considering the mortal blunders of creation and betrayal through greed or weak wills. It would destroy everything he had worker for if the book fell in the wrong hands and any hands that weren't his were wrong.

So all in all, he knew that Pegasus wasn't an idiot. Oh, sure, he looked like one alright and acted like the biggest idiot on the planet but every other sentence was a riddle of sorts that irritated Ryuji to no end. How he got the book Ryuji didn't even want to think about. It probably cost him his sanity.

Ryuji frowned and looked down at the edge of the abyss, grains of sand rolling of the ledge and tumbling down gently until the were swallowed by the inky darkness. It hasn't changed from the last time he came here. It was still bottomless, sinister, and utterly hopeless. At night Ryuji use to have dreams about this place. Nightmares where he would be dragged down by a giant hand, screaming for help that never came from the merpeople floating, laughing, at the edge of the chasm and, of course, Seto Kaiba was at the very front. Dreams where he would personally push Kaiba into the ocean's wound, bound and helpless, as he begged like the coward he was. After a dream like that he would be in a rare good mood.

His acid green eyes darted to the ocean's surface once, checking the sunlight, before doing a quick accurate search of the area around him, looking for any passing bystanders, not a single inch of ground safe from him. Ryuji always believed that it was his duty to be two steps ahead of any possible enemies with several backup plans stowed away, ready for the worst.

Yesterday, he had asked for the favor that Vivian, his fellow Captain, had owed him for that job back in the Ridge. She had always been an honor bound mermaid that had agreed with little argument. As soon as he had first met Vivian he knew exactly how to control her. If he used her ethics and morals in the right way she would do any job that Ryuji needed done. She rarely messed up and that's why she had been put to take over his squad and put temporarily in charge of his assignment. He would normally never let anyone take over his responsibilities with the fear they would fuck up but his current assignments with the outlaws couldn't be delayed even a day but he couldn't proceed without that damn book.

He drew his cloak around him tighter in paranoia and pushed his hood further down his face. He had taken the necessary percussions. Just because he couldn't see anybody didn't mean that there wasn't someone looking at him right now, ready to foil his plans. His tail slowly moved from side to side, sending small bubbles into the water. His mouth quirked into a small smirk and his fin propelled him headfirst into the chasm, black hair floating behind him.

As he headed downwards, his cloak fluttering in the water, he noticed that the water was growing steadily colder and the sunlight seemed to retreat and leave this damned place alone. The wall closest to him was barren, crumbling rock and coral with jagged, sharp, edges that could run him in half if he carelessly ran into one. The wall was full of them, ready to shed blood and he noticed this time around that faint circling patterns decorated the cliff in between spikes. Fossils. No life forms swam these waters and the silent, whispering waves flowed past him as if they were said by some unseen monster far into the distance.

He knew these waters were damned once and if everything went as planned, they would be damned once again.

Ryuji swam silently down to the darkness, not say a word as he knew it would be his undoing if he uttered a single syllable. He knew that the chasm was bottomless, floating carcasses drifted lonely against the nonexistent tide. Not even Mother Nature dared to enter here. The chill was seeping into his bones but he dared not to use his magic. There were creatures of legendary power in the solid darkness of the misty waters and if they sensed him he wouldn't survive to tell the tale. They guarded this place until their master came back to life.

He gritted his teeth against the cold, he was almost there. His hands were fisted and his inner instincts screamed at him that he was swimming to his death. The feeling only grew as his eyes caught some dim form of movement in the dark mist. The faintest outline of a long scaly tail, the size of a hallway in the palace, flickered then disappeared, fading into the patchwork. Had it sensed him? No, he hadn't spoken, used his magic, or shed blood the three things that would kill anybody.

The cloak had also been for the cold and it was helping somewhat. The cold had been one of the things that had been most imprinted in his mind. He scanned the cliff face for the opening or anything that didn't seem to be natural to the rocks. Pegasus may have changed the opening to it and for all he knew he could have gotten the location totally wrong but, he was rarely wrong.

He had seen swimming for ten minutes but he hasn't even hit the halfway mark between the top of the chasm and the beginning of the mist. He wasn't planning to go in the mist. Once he was in there it would be doubly as dangerous not to mention he would be blind without a light and he couldn't use his magic in defense if a creature did attack him as that would just attract even more.

His face was half-shadowed by his hood, leaving one eye visible and it shinned darkly with the mist's reflection. Any logical person would be scared, terrified especially with his knowledge but he wasn't. He hadn't been scared in a long time and probably never would be again.

All his fear had been used up ten years ago.

Two years after _it _happened.

He saw it. Finally. Hidden cleverly by spikes jutting out of the cliff face was a round opening about twenty feet high and just about the same wide, big enough for a merperson but small enough so that any creatures couldn't enter it. The spikes around the top of the cave were aimed downwards while the ones on the bottom were menacingly positioned so that their rough tips were meeting the top ones in the middle. Deep incisions above the cave were cut deep enough to look bottomless and full at the same time; giving off a feeling that he was being watched. The shadowy inside with the shadows of the rock daggers gave the inside a rough look as if the shadows were from the rock face, disguising it to the casual observer. Several flat stones next to the cave opening held the similar patterns of fins, rising slightly out of the cliff face.

The cave looked disturbingly like the open maw of a sea beast.

Pleasant.

Ryuji carefully leveled himself out and approached the cave and he once again felt that he was going to his death. The closer he got, the more it looked like a sea serpent, poised to lunge and swallow him whole, the two slanted holes looking like reptilian eyes. He made sure that he kept one eye glued to the mist for any attacks. He tried not to breathe loudly, keeping it soft and shallow, the cold pressing through his cloak into his pale skin. And once in front of the cave, looking between the teeth-like boulders, he saw the small hallway into Pegasus's inner lair.

Ryuji couldn't believe he was doing this but, that was all part of the fun. His hand moved from the safety of the cloak and lightly touched one of the two front teeth of the stone jaws, feeling the grimy, crumbling but firm surface like these rocks were a thousand years old. There was just enough space to squeeze through the gap if you knew exactly where to enter from and, luckily, Ryuji did.

With one last lingering look at the shifting darkness under him, catching a glimpse of a fin the size twice of a humpback whale's, he gripped the ends of his cloak to him and swam to the right end of the cave, to the bottom of the last sharp cliff formation. There was a fissure large enough for him to enter in between the last carved tooth and the cliff face filled with miniature spikes. Carefully, without touching the shards on either side of him, he shifted like a ghost into the crevice, the warm rush of water blowing against his face as the shadow of the cave fell on his face. If this cave followed the rules of nature then it would have been colder than outside but it didn't. Even caves can rebel, you know.

Ryuji let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and pushed his hood back, revealing his face to the dark tunnel. On a whim, he looked back at the cave entrance and the interlocking stone teeth, the backs curving slightly outwards. That was funny, there seemed to be something like painted blood characters on the back of each tooth. In between each tooth he could see a sliver of seawater. He wondered how on earth Pegasus could have made the entrance like this. This certainly wasn't natural but then again, what here was?

"Damn him," Ryuji muttered, feeling his words vibrate in the shallow tunnel. He could say everything he wanted here, he could scream himself hoarse and he would still be in one piece. He didn't know what Pegasus did to make this place like it impregnable but it didn't matter. Ryuji knew it worked and that was all that mattered. Anyway he wasn't here to get tips on interior design; he was here to get that book.

The shadows in the tunnel seemed to swallow him the more inside he went. Ryuji waited until he was positive that he couldn't see anything, about five minutes after entering the tunnel's inner sanctum, then unclenched one fist. With that a small, green spark of light appeared in his palm and brightened the tunnel. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head backwards slightly at the brightness on his unaccustomed eyes. He stopped for a while until his eyes were comfortably able to look around. Usually his eyes would have been able to see through the dark but this dark was spell cast especially made to blind intruders.

His light gave an eerie and unholy shade of green that laminated the curving walls of the stone tunnel, the stone looking like it was made of tainted and sickly emeralds. Ryuji noted with amusement that there seemed to be paintings along the walls as well. Well, not paintings exactly. They looked like different types of creatures had been pressed into the stone wall and sucked into it with them screaming and squirming in panic. In fact they almost seemed to be following him with their dead, stone eyes like they were accusing him of being alive while they were not.

"Interesting," he murmured, moving the light around to get a better view of what looked like a very realistic mermaid.

Suddenly he was ticked with himself. He shouldn't be here admiring the decorations and he was wasting precious time. Vivian could only cover so much for him before the Council figured that it wasn't him leading the mission. He and Vivian had very different techniques and toleration. He propelled himself to the end of the tunnel, his hand with the light held out in front of him, lighting the way with its glow.

How long was this damn tunnel? He'd been swimming for the past twenty minutes without even seeing a sign that it was going to end soon. He didn't remember the tunnel being this long before, in fact, the tunnel had been no more than a five minute swim before entering the main chamber. He frowned, the action making his face seem dangerous. There was something wrong here and he didn't like it. He grew even more ticked as he spotted the imprint of a dolphin in mid-thrashing on the wall as he passed. That was the second time he passed that particular creature and a quick look around it, seeing the too-familiar cravings around it, his feeling that he was being tricked was proven.

He stopped, frowning even more severely as he leaned slightly on the wall to his left. Damn this to hell, he didn't have enough to time to play games with Pegasus. He hated playing games, especially pointless games.

"Pegasus," Ryuji said loudly, angrily, glaring at the stone wall in front of him as if it was Pegasus imprinted in the wall. Oh, that would be lovely. "Stop playing your trice-damned games!"

His shouts vibrated around the cavern tunnels, traveling down both ways of the tunnel, sending their message into the darkness. His words crowded around him, hearing his words a multitude of times, each rebound changing and twisting his words into screeches and howls of the insane. He knew Pegasus heard him, Pegasus knew he was here for the book. And all he got was the mutated sound of his own words in return. He waited, furious, until the last echo danced away into the ends of the tunnel.

"I'm here for the book," he announced, irritation and annoyance lacing his tone. "Stop this shit now!" His eyes flickered both ways, suddenly feeling the overwhelming sense of the silence.

Once again the reverberating of his words danced around him, teasing him that he was alone in the dark. They grew louder as they bounced in his mind then melted with each echo, creating a jumble of words that he didn't understand. A bone-chilling wailing came dancing down the passageway, sending the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It came from the way he came from, the entrance. Heh, his echoes must have traveled all the way down to the opening of the cave and the chasm, alerting a creature that there was prey outside then screeching as it found nothing.

The wail bounced more powerfully than his own voice, making him grit his teeth against the repeating attack on his sensitive ears. The monstrous, slithering wailings fused with the last dying remains of his angry echoes as a silvery, sly, whispering voice entered his mind.

"_Sssscreaming…innocentsss."_ The whispering voice stirred his old terrors in the back of his mind. It was the voice that held pure and unadulterated madness.

He twitched but otherwise didn't move, knowing that it wouldn't do him any good. Why couldn't Pegasus open the door like normal, sane merpeople? Oh, right, he wasn't sane or normal. Ryuji silently swore that he would kill the stupid, twisted magician whenever his usefulness ran out.

So, screaming innocents? Well, if Pegasus wanted him to scream then he was out of luck because Ryuji was anything but innocent. No pure, innocent creatures frolicking around here so…hmm, Pegasus certainly had an odd way of choosing where to put the door to the inner chamber. But it did fit with the lunatic. Personally, he would have done something similar but with a much more attractive figurehead. It kind of disturbed him that he thought similarly to Pegasus but he couldn't really care too much about that so he didn't.

He made his way a bit further in, passing the helpless dolphin with its dead eyes, pleading for help. It was its fault for getting caught in the wall in the first place. He searched for what he was looking for diligently, still pissed off. Not satisfied that things were going fast, he made his light brighter, more sickly and demanding to the shadows. It was silent now that there was no shouting or wailing but it gave more of a dangerous feeling, like he was getting close. He wallowed blissfully in the feeling and smirked lopsidedly, the fingers of his free hand ghosting on the surface of the wall, traveling along the slight forms embedded in the stone.

And he found it, just like he last saw it. With a smug and triumphant air (well not technically air), he approached the wall, bringing his light closer to the figure, shows wavering in the presence of the radiance.

It was the mermaid from before but now that he had a little more time, he studied it much closer than before, catching every little detail just in case he would ever need it. She was in a position that intrigued him. Her hands where by either side of her head, palms open to him as if she was trapped on the other side and trying to push the wall back. Her tail was slim and dainty, the flowing fin curling backwards. Her chest was covered by a sash of cloth, looking like it was once silk.

But it was her face that identified her as the figure he was sent to look for. Her triangular face was frozen in such a look of terror and fear that he found himself captivated by it. Her stone-colored eyes were wide and grains of tears hung at the corner of her eyes, never getting the chance to fall. Her long, hair hung to her waist but it was spread around her like a large devilish halo, thick tendrils of hair in snakelike formations. She couldn't have been much older than him, maybe two to three years at the most. He knew that she had been screaming when she died.

Screaming innocents.

Ryuji watched her for a moment, skeptical in how to open the doorway. Then, to his surprise and, perhaps, his unease, her mermaid blinked slowly at him, gritty tears growing to a larger quantity.

Then before he could register his own surprise, a deep groaning sound reverberated from the mermaid or, more accurately, from behind the mermaid. Because of her open mouth it felt like she was the one groaning at him to help her out of her prison, out of her own personal hell. Sorry, lady, not today, he thought without remorse, probably never. The groaning increased as dust suddenly shot everywhere, into his face, blinding him momentarily. He scooted back, one hands over his mouth, his eyes blinking rapidly to clear the grime. Damn Pegasus. A warning would have sufficed but no, he had be an ass.

Ryuji cursed and waved his free hand around, clearing the water in front of him. Once he could see enough to his satisfaction, he moved back to his earlier position, a few feet away from the screaming mermaid. He immediately caught the new lines that had appeared. The thin line started at the bottom of the wall, going up the right side of the mermaid without touching her then arching above her head to go back down her opposite side. The line ended when it connected with the first end, making a complete oval around her frozen figure. Like the outline of a doorway.

Bingo.

The mermaid pleaded with her dead eyes once last time before the stone doorway opened soundlessly, hiding her from his view. He felt a rush of slightly cooler water as he glared distrustfully at the opening, judging if there wasn't any traps or tricks attached. Once he finished calculating as much as he could, he warily crossed into the inner chamber. He felt another rush of water as the doorway slammed shut again behind him, trapping him inside. He guessed the mermaid didn't take kindly to his rudeness but what did he care. She wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The inner chamber hadn't changed much from his last visit. The overall size wasn't that impressive, only as big as half the barracks but the stone walls were smooth, unlike everything else he had seen made of the same material. The ceiling curved like a dome, a same-sized glass sphere hung from the middle, attached by a part of the coarse rope that dangled over the whole ceiling in a random pattern. The light emitting from the sphere was dim, barely enough for his eyesight to work with. The ground was flat with a curious pentagon carved into the very middle, directly under the lighting sphere.

Inside the confines of the semi-circular cavern, where more than enough furniture for the small place. There was tons of junk all over the place, from running human paintings to old telescopes and useless shards of human glass littered the floor. Ryuji saw little human and Meridian dolls thrown on the floor like discarded kelp and a low, medium sized circular table occupied one side of the small room.

The right side of the wall was covered from bottom to top in rickety driftwood shelves. Thousands of bottles, glass containers, and jugs filled all of the available space and then some as in some places they were all crammed to the point where they were half falling off. The glass were colored great verity of different colors and shades but most of them, were greens, blues, and reds. The odd decaying scroll was wedged in between bottles. Most had a sick-looking liquid in them, transparent to him through the glass though some were empty or filled with different animal body parts. Even land creatures if he wasn't mistaken.

Hmm, Pegasus seemed to have expanded his collection quite a bit. Curiosity sparked in him as he drifted near the rows and rows of glass, the dim light scarcely lighting the reflections. In between a dark green bottle with a long, twisted neck and a round red one was a smaller, clear bottle. It was big enough to fit in his palm without difficult and it had a cork stopper.

And flickering inside of the air-tight container was an odd creature. The closest Ryuji could compare it to be a crab but it was much thinner and smaller, without the bulky red shell, and it had two paper-thin circular arms that fluttered slowly, tiredly. They were black and yellow, set into stripes with blue dashes near the end of the circles. A curled thin tube was attached to what Ryuji thought was the head. What was this strange creature?

"Beautiful is it not?" An amused, creeping voice said behind him.

Ryuji didn't move though all his instincts told him that it was vital to guard his back. When did that old man sneak up on him and from where? Ryuji could now feel his presence behind him, a presence that he would probably never forget. He mentally cursed himself for letting his guard down especially here.

"It is called an Arise Swallowtail butterfly," the voice continued behind him, the cheerfulness in the voice made Ryuji want to punch him. "A land insect, one of the most renowned creatures for their…freedom. I am particularly attached to these beauties. Of course, they do not last long but they are a pleasure to have."

"How did you obtain it?" Ryuji asked out of politeness, not caring in the least bit where he got it. He felt the merman behind him shift, moving closer to his right.

"Hmm, that is an interesting story," the voice mused. "If time were long enough perhaps you would like to hear it. Yes, Otogi-boy?"

Ryuji bristled partly at the nickname but most for the subtle reminder. He didn't have enough time to waste on frivolous chit-chat. He came here for the book and he knew that. Pegasus was at the same time reminding him that time was short and pressuring him to stay longer than necessary.

"I'm afraid not, I have to return to my position soon," Ryuji said, his body tense as the other merman entered his sight, next to him. The other merman was watching Ryuji out of the corner of his good eye, amusement shinning.

"Of course, silly me," he said, unnervingly watching him. "Time is a fickle thing, slipping through you fingers when you want to grasp it and slowing down went you want it to speed away. Which would you prefer it to be, Otogi-boy? Faster than light or slower than human life?" he could sense the slowly spreading smile on the other's face and it irked him immensely.

Ryuji knew enough that he had to pick his answer carefully. "Time is not ours to control," Ryuji replied slowly. "I do not see the point in wishing for something that will never happen."

"You have changed very little Otogi-boy," the other said pensively. "You can here wishing and is it not wishing that brought you back here? Contradicting yourself never is good for mental health."

Yeah, and you are the epitome of mental health right? "I do not wish for things that would never happen," Ryuji said stiffly, rapidly tiring of this word game. "This, on the other hand, is something that I can and will make happen. I do not wish. I make it happen."

He could see the smile growing wider and he knew that he said something wrong. "So you do not wish. You can make this happen. My, what a puzzling problem we have here. Alone to make this happen and still alone you can make it. Loneliness is a powerful force, yes?"

Bastard. He gritted his teeth forcefully so not to say something wrong out of anger that could make him loose the opportunity to get the book. He was telling him that he alone could get his revenge but to make the equation complete he needed all the pawns. And, to add insult to injury, he was reminding Ryuji of why he was here in the first place. Ryuji was really wishing he left him dead the first time he met him.

"I would think so," Ryuji said, really wanting to just get want he came for and get out. he was starting to feel slightly claustrophobic especially with the other merman so close to him. "But that is not why I'm here. We had an agreement."

"An agreement, hmm, which one would that be? I do not remember clearly. Would you be so kind as to expand on that?"

He couldn't take it any more. Ryuji turned around to face the other, eyes spitting lightning. "You know exactly what agreement," he snapped viciously. He wasn't use to being so passive all the time. "As if any one else comes to this shit hole that you call a house!"

For a still moment he was sure that he had gone overboard as the other man turned to face him head on, face in a frown. Then before Ryuji could do anything, the other started laughing deafeningly like Ryuji had just said that funniest thing he had every heard. That annoying laugh went on for a few minutes as Ryuji indignantly waited as patiently as he could for him to finish. He couldn't risk it any more. He wasn't sure that he would even honor their agreement.

"I rest my case, you haven't changed," Pegasus said lightly, smiling that annoying knowing smile that was a half-sneer. "Your temper is as strong as it was. You really are amusing."

Ryuji refused to comment on that. "Can I just get what I came here for? Then I'll be out of here," he said, just able to keep from spitting the words at him.

"Now why would I do that?" Pegasus questioned him, still smiling. "A soul does tend to get lonely in here. Some company would be welcome. Well, some live company. Talking to destroyed souls does not make the best for conversation."

Damn it, Ryuji could feel the corners of his mouth twitching. Destroyed souls, yes, that was what he came for, what he was going to do. He was going to make sure Kaiba went through everything he went through and, to top all injury, he was going to lose what he would hold dearest to him. Right in front of his _eyes_.

Pegasus viewed this reaction with glee. "Well, I suppose it would be better not to hold you much longer," he commented flippantly. "Come along, you already passed through the maze, a great accomplishment I must say. Very good."

Ryuji frowned. "What maze?" he asked suspiciously, gears turning rapidly in his mind. "The hallway from the opening of the cave. It was your maze?" Even though the tunnel never twisted or turned or forked it had lead him around in circles. He had never heard of a maze doing that before. If he had he would have certainly used it. It was an excellent defense for the book. One that not many would suspect. Including him, he reluctantly added.

"Oh no, Otogi-boy," Pegasus chided him as if Ryuji had let down him to a great extent. "It was not my maze. Surely you would know that I do not have the ability to create a maze like that even though the decorations were marvelous." Before Ryuji could get another word in Pegasus continued. "Now, let's go see if I have that item you desire so, shall we?"

And with that and a large smile, he turned around and swam to the pentacle in the middle of the small room. Ryuji hesitated but the pull to finally be able to obtain the book was too great and he followed the older merman until he was floating next to him, directly over the pentacle and under the lighting sphere.

"Hold on, Otogi-boy," Pegasus said cheerfully, his eyes glowing with sadistic glee.

* * *

That was something he hoped never to do again. He would rip the book to pieces before going through that again. Okay, maybe not to that extent but that had to be one of the most shocking things he had ever gone through. The least Pegasus could have done was given him a much more accurate warning!

Ryuji glared at him with fervor as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. The bastard looked like he was enjoying the view of a less than perfect Ryuji Otogi. In fact, there wasn't a single strand out of place in his sliver hair. Ryuji knew that under his hair, his bad left eye was concealed by a curtain of silver hair.

"That was certainly exciting wasn't it, Otogi-boy?" Pegasus commented slyly at him. His only answer was an acidic glare. "Now don't be like that! A little excitement never hurt anybody." Unfortunately, Ryuji thought forebodingly, glaring at the very much alive Pegasus.

It seemed they where now in another long hallway much like the first one except it was twice as big. The walls were old and not very stable-looking. Underwater stalactites grew from the ceiling like menacingly daggers, ready to fall at the slightest noise but apparently they were stronger than they looked because they had yet to fall. They extended to the other end of the tunnel of rock and coral. They water was defiantly colder here, at least ten degrees colder than Pegasus's small room.

Silence was heavy and dead here. Faintly glowing algae hung on the sides of the stalactites, giving them enough light to see. There was nothing here. Was Pegasus still playing with him? His patience was running very short with this merman. One more stupid game or trick and he would…

"Now, let's continue on, shall we?" Pegasus smiled/leered at him and made his way across the hallway, seemingly not afraid that one of the stalactites might fall and spear him through.

Not wanting to be outdone, Ryuji followed carefully, eyeing the walls. They were plain, without any carvings or fossils. He was kind of disappointed with the way it seemed so ordinary. He had yearned to be here for years and now that he was there was nothing special. No, he mustn't judge the entrance way. It was only, after all, the way to the book not the book itself. The hall wouldn't reflect the book. He just hoped the book would be much more impressive.

The hall was rather short, only a three minute swim. At the other end of the hall was a door. A plain wooden door with a fossil-like handle. It was made of driftwood and was the standard-size for a door, the top corners rounding to form a semi-circle form. This was it?

"Here we are," Pegasus gestured at the door. "It is housed there. As our agreement you will take the book and the book and whatever happens because of it will be your responsibility." His single stared with a seriousness he had rarely seen. "You know what could happen Otogi-boy, be sure you know the consequences. This is not a toy but have as much fun as you can."

Pegasus nodded at him, a knowing leer on his face. His colorless, oddly transparent tail flickered once and he was off, never once looking back at Ryuji. He looked at the rapidly shirking form, not trusting the other not to interfere any more. He truly detested Maximillion Pegasus. He would have to be disposed of soon. He couldn't have any loose ends floating around.

So this was it. The pawns were set into motion and soon would be in position from the plan to begin. He could feel the excitement and bloodlust curling inside him. Behind that door was the book. The golden book and it would soon he his. It would soon be the end of Taikai.

His hand gripped the fossil-like handle and pulled the door open, his heart beating in ecstasy. It was dark inside, like everything else here and not a single sound broke the tomb silence. It was here, he could feel calling him with its pull. He broke into a cold sweat that he ignored. It wasn't important. The book was here, waiting for him. All the pain he went through was going to be worth it. Everything he had done would be rewarded soon. Revenge would he his.

And how great that day would be.

He had it in his hands. He almost couldn't believe it but it was. The book sat innocently on the marble pedestal like a normal book. But it wasn't normal. Far from it. The gold cover looked new and shinny, like it had been made yesterday not thousands of years ago.

Ryuji couldn't help the laugh that torn from his throat. He was feeling like he had already completed his plan that revenge was already in his grasp. He was going to win because there was no way he could fail.

Not now.

Not ever.

* * *

Well, that's it and yes Ryuji does seem a little insane but that's how I need him to be. I noticed that I had a dramatic way of ending chapters. Hmm, I never noticed that before. So, my faithful reviewers I hoped you enjoyed that and I promise, I swear on my honor as an authoress that the chapter where the eight of them will meet will be next. I swear! You're probably all frustrated right now about my slow-ness, right? Sorry.

Review!


	11. Silken Aura

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yoai) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time and set off a chain of events that could destroy all they hold dear. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cussing

**Chapter Name**: Silken Aura

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or anything remotely similar to it.

**Author Notes: **Hi! (Waves) Hello! I'm back and I'm glad. So thank you for your encouragement and the scene that you're all bugging me to give you is here. Sorry for all the delay but, once again, what else is new? I appreciate those who have put me and my stories on your fav and/or alert lists. It makes me feel all tingly and appreciated inside. I hope this chapter rises to your expectations. And yes I do have the tendency to ramble on a bit, sorry.

Oh and as probably all you guys know the mermen have never seen human things so almost everything will be new to them. Of course some things may be the same under the sea as up here (books, plates, and that sort of things) but since they're, you know, underwater things will look to them greatly different. Okay that's about all I think to say so off you go.

Just to make sure everyone is clear on this I will say the following: this story contains puzzleshipping, puppyshipping, bronzeshipping, and tendershipping. Ha! I wanted to write that.

"Blah, blah, blah," English

"_Blah, blah, blah," _Meridian

* * *

He knew he was dreaming. Really there was no way he wasn't dreaming because life just wasn't that twisted. He was asleep therefore he dreaming and there was no other reason for this bizarre scene other than it was a hallucination created by his subconscious. He really needed to give his subconscious a pep talk.

A mackerel, dressed up in a green skirt with the biggest frills he had ever laid eyes on, was waltzing around with a sea cucumber wrapped in ribbons of all colors. The mackerel was gulping water with its gaping mouth and its eyes were bugging out at the ceiling, a green bow wrapped around its head. Both ridiculous sea creatures were dancing on the tables in Taikai's palace's dinning hall, moving clumsily and messily around full plates and platters of food. Plates, spoons, forks, and bowls clattered to the floor noisily and the food splattered onto the floor without care. They danced horribly up the head of the table, so horribly in fact, that it wasn't dancing; it was just off-rhythm swaying.

And the cucumber looked really stupid.

In fact, they were dancing right towards him, tumbling seasoned fish and red seaweed off the table. For some reason he couldn't move from his seat as if he was tied down. He just gazed morbidly fascinated at the dancing sea creatures as they got closer to him, making a path clear of any type of food or culinary serving dishes. Anyone sane being would be screaming right now and trying to kill the abominations before the mackerel so much as blinked in his direction. It was horrible. Horrible!

The things twirled his way, the sides of the fish's food-stained skirt hung over the ends of the table. Clatters and bangs was the only sound that hit his sensitive ears and it definitely wasn't music. He sat there, wide-eyed, as they got closer. The gaping mouth looked like it wanted to suck his soul right out of him. No! He needed his soul. He wouldn't let the mackerel of freakiness steal his soul.

Suddenly a large silver plate dropped from the ceiling with a twinkle of melodious light, closely followed by the platter's curved lid. Just as the twirling and twisting green skirt as about touch the plate right in front of him, the plate crashed onto the table, pushing all the food onto the already littered floor. It rotated a few times before it settled right side up. The mackerel and cucumber danced forward right onto the plate without notice and, as soon as they were in the center, the lid fell with a clang on the plate, locking the dancing duo in. Most of the green skirt was poking out of the platter, looking like multicolored sea algae.

He blinked at the sudden turn of events and hesitantly poked the platter's lid and, when it did nothing, he gingerly gripped the handle on top. For a moment he was indecisive, not sure that he wanted to open the jar of freaky fish, wondering what the hell he was doing, but he yanked the lid off, hoping that the dancing sea creatures were somehow gone. And they were but instead he was met with the beady eyes of a full grown female elephant seal. He wasn't sure now of which he would have preferred, the seal or the dancing abominations. How did she come out of a space that was at least thirty times as smaller then her he didn't have the faintest idea. She reared at him, towering over him to cover him in her enormous shadow and opened her maw. He saw a flash of her blunt mossy and yellow teeth before she roared in his face.

He awoke startled, the dream roar filling his ears. He didn't open his eyes or move or maybe he just was feeling too lazy. He just laid there, his brain still half-asleep. The first thing that hit him, so to speak, was feeling that he had been in the middle of a tsunami and came up on the short side. Ugh, what did he do? His whole body felt like lead, heavy and sore. Well, lead is heavy but not exactly sore but whatever. He was too tired to think correctly. Then, as if his body knew he was awake and didn't like fakers, a sharp tingling sensation ran over his limbs like angry hermit crabs. This was not making him anymore comfortable.

He tired to ignore the feeling of little needles piercing his skin. But it was hard. It was so annoying. He wouldn't get any sleep like this. Goddamn it. He stubbornly tried to ignore the rising sensation until it felt like urchin needles were being painfully into his aching muscles, all of them. Even his eyelids muscles were on the verge of snapping clean off into the distance. Can he not get any peace anymore? If it wasn't his neurotic friends it was something else. He did he look like he had permanent low blood pressure? 'Cause he didn't.

Yami really couldn't ignore that irritating tingle any longer. It was about as annoying as Marik on a treasure hunt that he somehow roped the rest into following him. He really didn't want to open his eyes, his brain still not sending the correct signals to the rest of him. His ears were working fine though as he odd dream unbelievably somehow proved (?) and his immediate surroundings were quiet. That was good.

Whatever he was laying on was soft and released a slightly aromatic smell that made him inhale deeply. That smelled pretty good. Wait. He furrowed his brow confusedly. He had never smelled something like this; he would remember something this nice. His arm moved, sliding next to him and over the soft, semi-silky material. It was kind of like the fabric back in Taikai except this was slightly rougher than the usual kind. It felt softer though than his dry skin.

Dry skin? Why would he have dry skin…?

His eyes snapped open, immediately seeing an expanse plain white colored stone above him that was in the shape of a large square with a dent that stuck inside to the far left (and thankful that he still had his eyelids intact). He quickly looked around at his surroundings, taking note of even the smallest detail. He was in a medium-sized room apparently filled with air if his dry throat and mouth had anything to say about it. There was a bookcase next to the wall right in front of where he lay. It wasn't very big, just about five shelves high, sparingly filled with books. Some of the books were falling apart at the spines, flakes of their covers on the verge of falling off while some had harder, shinier covers and seemed in better shape. He saw the names on the spines were in English so either whoever housed him here (cause he was sure that he didn't unconsciously drag himself here) spoke English or had a thing for reading in foreign languages. He was more inclined to believe the former.

There were strips of fabric, light red, which hung from what looked to be like a thin golden bar on the wall on his left. They seemed to be blocking some kind of light, most likely sunlight from entering the room, making the fabric vaguely transparent. It was most likely around high noon. He was no expert but that was his guess.

Yami was in an odd version of what looked like a bed. It wasn't as spongy as the beds he knew probably because it wasn't made with the same materials, which was sea sponges, but it was comfortable enough. If he was being held prisoner then the prison was a thousand times better than the granite caves. But he really doubted that. He wasn't being restrained in any way so his captors either knew he wouldn't be able to get away or didn't care if he did. In the worst case scenario there were traps in the room ready to set off if he awoke or tried to get away. He didn't see any but it was better not to let his guard down for anything.

His red eyes ran over his body to see if there was any damage. But he really couldn't see anything other than the blanket of purple cloth that had been put over him. He had to at least see if there were any wounds so he could heal them. He needed to be in top shape in case he needed to fight himself out of here. He rolled his shoulder, trying to get the kinks out before he tentatively grabbed the blanket and shoved it off him. It only went half way as he was still recovering and a blast of air made a shiver run down his body. His skin felt crinkly and rough which was not a feeling he was use to getting. How long had he been out of the water?

Yami groaned as he moved both elbows back under him to try and get his upper body in the air. Even though it would mean exposing himself to even more air he needed to be in a position that he would be able to see everything around him. Call him paranoid, it was better than being called dead. He used his elbows to drag his shoulders to rest on the wooden back of the bed. Yeah, he just noticed that too.

Something was blinking at the corner of his eye and he instantly directed his gaze to his left, already drawing on his magic to fight any danger. Yami twisted as best as he could, his muscles crying in protest and he managed to see a small black box with glowing red figures and a small button on the top blinking on a undersized table, before he felt the weirdest thing.

His tail went two ways at once and his hold on the bed slipped, falling flat on his face with a thump on the bed, the whole thing bouncing him in the air twice. He threw his head back and coughed, the air in his lungs stretched them horribly. Yami heard several pops as his back cracked repeatedly. That was going to hurt later on; he could literally feel it in his bones.

Yami quickly twisted his torso and threw himself on his back, the damn bed-thingy-look-alike still bouncing him in the air. That was the weirdest sensation he had ever had the not-so-great pleasure of feeling. The purple blanket had clustered up in bunches and half of it was falling off the right side of the bed. What happened to his tail? Yami was almost afraid to look but he grasped the nearest corner of the blanket and flipped it to the left of him.

If Yami had been a lesser former-merman his brain would have short-circuited. But he wasn't so the story goes on.

His tail with fiery red scales was gone, long, long, gone, and replaced with the two fleshy limbs known as human legs. Yami blinked and, before his brain went overloaded, he racked his memory for a reason for this phenomenon. It was a good thing that he was known for being level-headed and calm (most of the times anyway). Then a self-satisfied smirk curled his lips and his eyes gleamed with triumph.

I am so good, he thought victoriously.

His spell worked after all. But what happened with the others? Surely he didn't make them explode or anything like that. He had too much control over his magic to do something as novice as that. Not counting the fact that this had been the first time he had never tried anything against Mahado's orders. He winced as he felt a small prick of guilt but, as he gazed at his new appendages, he felt that it was well worth it. He was the only successful magic user that has used transmutation effectively to change a merman into a human. And on the first try too.

Yami quickly looked around the area again to make sure that there was nothing that would attack him for a while. He saw nothing of urgent danger which was starting to unsettle him. You'd think that as soon as he opened his eyes there would be somebody with a knife above ready to open his chest. There had to be some kind of dangerous substance or mechanism around here somewhere. But the place was quiet and he uneasily ran his gaze one last time over the walls and floor, roof included.

With curiosity and interest, he examined his _legsssssss_. That's a funny word, legs. Anyway, since he didn't get a good look at Malik's legs back at the half-made bridge he could now examine his very own pair. They were the same color as his skin, a deep rich tan and were probably around the length of his tail give or take a few inches. A few red scales were half-buried in skin on the upper part of his legs, the only thing that was left of his tail. They were kind of built like arms, he found out, made of two parts that were divided where they bent. Could he move them?

Yami figured that it was basically the same as trying to move his tail except now it was in two parts but that's okay, he would make this work. He was almost quivering with excitement. This was amazing. So he decided to try bending. It looked easy, how hard could it be? Yami didn't know what would happen but he tried to do the same as he did to flick his tail. To his incredulity and wondering gaze, the bottom part of his left leg moved so that it was bent to a slight angle. He felt muscles that he didn't have before move and stretch, his new bones grinding in their sockets. Then all that feeling was lost as a torrent of sharp pain flew up to his chest.

Yami bit his lip and narrowed his eyes, letting his leg sit like that for a while. Well, really, it was only to be expected. In a matter of minutes his lower body had grown numerous bones and his muscle structure dramatically changed in order for him to move said new bones. Still, in order to make sure that there was no internal damage or misplacements he decided to do a body magi-scan. Hopefully his core was still up for the challenge.

His shaking arms gave in and he fell heavily on the bed, head landing on a fluffy mini-bed-like thing, probably a cushion of sorts. He blew his hair out of his face and closed his crimson eyes. It wasn't difficult to do a magi-scan. He just needed to run his magic through his body to check if there's something defect or unnatural abrasion like a wound of sorts inside. Yami expertly guided his magic through his body, running it over every bone, muscle, nerve, tissue, and organ inside. Through the sensations and flashes of magic he could see an outline, a map of his body in his mind, layer upon layer of nerves, muscles, and bones.

It was a relief to feel his magic rushing through him. He had briefly considered that the transformation would have rendered him either temporarily unable to use his magic or permanently as humans were. That would have made it really hard to brag about his magical skills.

Yami ran his inner eye through his circulatory system, checking the insides of his veins and found that his blood hadn't changed. It was still normal mermen temperature meaning it was hotter than a normal human's. The vein he was following led directly through his heart and he looked around, finding nothing wrong. In fact it seemed that everything in his upper body was the same, not a single thing changed. He changed his magic's course and aimed downwards rushing past his swim bladder and lungs to his newly grown hips. It was so odd seeing these things that he had never had before. He ran his inner eye down his leg bones, marveling at the seamless growth and structure. He didn't do a bad job, not at all. Though his new bones were in the very last stages of transmuting and sealing cracks created in the process, the finishing details. No wonder his legs hurt so much to move them. The best thing to do was to rest until they finished but even after that he had no idea how to walk. The best thing he could do was crawl or drag himself and he stubbornly refused to stoop that low.

But everything was in its apt place. That is good. It saved him a great deal of pain and effort. Yami sighed, open his eyes, and looked at the ceiling of the room, finding small cracks in the stone. There was nothing to do. Now, sure, he was in an unknown place which, just because it was unknown, held high danger potential and he shouldn't be bored especially when he didn't know where the hell Seto, Marik, and Bakura where. They could take care of themselves well enough but the important part was the Royal Guard had definitely not taken them captive unless they had done a major remolding of their prison (which was as unlikely as Bakura turning his hair pink) and that was a victory all in its own.

But he should still look for them; after all, they are his friends. Once again Yami closed his eyes and released his magic, starting to feel the strain of using his magic after doing a complicated transmutation spell. After this be would be better off not using his magic for a good while at least until his legs finished plastering together. The bad part about it is that it would leave him practically defenseless to ward off attackers or threats. It was not something he preferred to be in unknown territory. Was it worth the risk? Well, what is life without a little risk?

Yami suppressed a smirk at what Seto would say to this then breathed out a colorless probe. Instead of letting it go immediately, he held it immobile in the air and let his magic wrap around it thickly, more thickly than a regular probe. His magi signal would be more noticeable but he doubted that the Royal Guard would pick it up from where he was. There wasn't a trace of salt in the air meaning that the ocean could not around their immediate location. He held the growing probe in the air until it grew to the size he wanted then wrapped a magi line around his offered hand. Then he sent it on its way and it passed through the wall like a phantom. Now if only he could do that, it would have saved them a lot of trouble. Believe you him.

He drove his probe until the line started glowing yellow then orange and as it hit a dark red the line shivered with the weight of the probe. His chest was starting to ache just like every other muscle he possessed. Damn, he just needed a little more time. He had been through worse than this. Okay, so maybe he hadn't but still telling himself that was working.

It was getting hard to keep the probe in the air, the magi line thinning to almost nothing. Drops of liquid collected on his face and, when a drop slip down his face to his mouth, found out it was slightly salty. He fisted the hand with the magi line and gave one last great effort before his magic collapsed from exhaustion. The probe became smaller, the pressure he was creating around it was forcing all that extra magic to coil in tightly. He squeezed it as tight as he could, feeling his chest tightening as well. This was going to hurt sooner than later. Then, with a feeling of something exploding in his chest, he let the probe go, all his magic discharging in all directions, going through walls, floors, and roofs with nothing but the slightest breeze his magic left in its path. His magi line disappeared without a sound.

Images rushed through his mind, spinning so fast be barely had time to process them. If he had been in better shape he would have been able to stop the images long enough to see more than blurs. He managed to get enough glimpses of immobile bodies that kind of looked like his friends, he wasn't sure. He tried to focus on them better but then, just as fast as they whizzed by, the images stopped and he felt the last of his magic dissipate like mist.

Now he felt twice as worse as before. Maybe Seto was right when he told him that taking so many risks would be the death of him. He was probably right but nobody ever listened to him anyway. Damn, that was some workout. Yami laid on the bed panting, feeling even more dehydrated than he did before. What he wouldn't give for some water right about now. His inner organs hadn't changed meaning that his blood would heat most of the water in his body as it typically did and evaporate it but usually this wasn't a problem for a merman being in the ocean and all. He licked his dry lips and turned his head to the right, his head feeling heavy.

Yami narrowed his eyes. When did that door get there? He should have been worried at his lack of attentiveness but he was too tired to really care. All he wanted to do was sleep, sleep, sleep, and, you guessed, sleep some more. Mahado always warned him of the strain his magic could get if he pushed himself too hard. Magic is energy that resided in each merperson, some more than others. Yami was one of the few who were born with a very strong and ample amount of magic. Of course, he had to work twice as hard to control his magic but, in the end, it gave him the ability to do many more things than others. Like take his transmutation spell, for example, since he had more magic and control than those who have tried the spell before it gave him an advantage in manipulating his body and that of his friends.

His body laid there limp like a piece of seaweed and his chest heaved heavily. He didn't know if his healing abilities would change or stay the same now that he was a human and he was too tired to do a healing spell. Blah.

He passed out or something of the like because the next moment he opened his eyes- when did he closed them?- the shadows of the room had moved slightly, sticking the corners and light behind the hanging red shrouds was brighter. He felt a little bit better but he was still thirsty, really thirsty. What does a guy need to do to get some water around here? Yami groaned then winced as his scratchy throat made itself known. His tongue felt like a…fuzzy, dry thing. He decided right then and there that he really disliked fuzzy and dry things. Especially if those fuzzy and dry things are currently inside his mouth.

Yami knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep and sighed wantonly. It had been a miracle that he had fallen asleep in the first place. Once he wakes up it is almost impossible to back asleep. It's a curse he has probably because of the many times Mana stormed in his room, yelling and pushing him to get up and get ready for lessons hours before sunup. It wasn't a well known fact but Yami loves to sleep late, as late as he possibly could. Once he slept from early sunset to late midday without even twitching. He sleeps like the dead. On the other hand, Seto always wake up right before sunup which is just plain crazy in his opinion.

Sleepy, sleepy, go to sleep, he chanted in his head, trying to will his systems to shut down. Go to dreamland and sleep, need rest, want a nap, a siesta, a little snoooooze. Yes? No? No… Sometimes he hated how his body betrays him like this. So he opted for glaring at the ceiling.

Then that got boring after a while. He blinked slowly as his eyes stared to water. Yami was too calm, he knew that and took some relish in it. It was probably his exhaustion talking. Yami squinted at the ceiling as if something interesting had grown on it in the few seconds he closed his eyes. His mind backtracked to the images that he had managed to recognize and frowned at himself. He must really be out of it. There were obviously other intelligent beings in the building so why hadn't he heard or seen anything from them? Surely they couldn't all be asleep or out cold. There had to be some kind sign to where they where.

Well, magic was not really an option if he wanted to get a grip on reality. His skin felt all crinkly and scratchy, not a very nice sensation topped off with a sore everything. And just as he was thinking all this, of finding out other life forms and all, he heard the sound of soft thumping like something was hitting the floor (he still wasn't use to the whole leg thing). Yami closed his eyes and fixated on the sound. It was somewhere to far in front of him, going from the left to the right, growing louder as the thumps moved along. In the background he dimly heard soft clinking and faint noises. Was it him or did the whole place just come alive? Maybe the transmutation fiddled with his hearing. He would have to check on that later.

The footsteps were so soft that he had a hard time actually hearing where they were heading but, if he managed to do this right, they were coming near in his direction, down the right. Should he fake that he was asleep or should he look at his captors in the eye? It wouldn't do much in this condition to try and pick a fight. He wanted answers, of course, but he needed to know as much as he could before he did anything drastic. Yami grimaced, he was starting to sound too much like Seto.

The soft footsteps were getting closer. Yami quickly looked around, his neck screaming in protest, and found what he was looking for. His hand grabbed the purple blanket and threw it over his legs with some hesitation. The material was scratchy against his newly formed skin but he needed everything to look like he had never waked. Then when everything was in order he closed his eyes and feigned sleep. It wasn't that hard, he just needed to make sure he breathed deeply and in a regular pattern. Gods, he was so thirsty…

The footsteps stopped briefly to his right and Yami fought to keep his heart rate normal. There was a groan of wood as the door opened then there was a moment of silence before the door was opened all the way. Yami tried to keep as still as possible, taking in hopefully sleep-like breaths. He could feel the presence of another being in the room, it was almost tangible. Whoever it was had one of the softest auras he had ever felt and he almost opened his eyes to see it but caught himself just in time. The aura was soothing as the footsteps got nearer, hesitantly as if the person wasn't sure if it was okay to get closer. But the person did get closer until they stood right next to him, so close Yami could almost taste the aura.

There was some shuffling about and he felt the blanket being straightened out and he almost grimaced as the feeling. He was going to get a rash, he just knew it. He hated rashes for obvious reasons. Who likes them? The answer: no one unless you'd happen to like them from which then you'd have to have your head examined. But he digressed and got back on track.

His body seemed to have gotten the memo that he was faking sleep so he focused his attention on the warm aura next to him and the little sounds of breathing. To his immense surprise, after a small period of nothing, he felt the fleeting touch of skin linger above his forehead, lightly flicking fingers through his bangs. The touch was warm and it lasted no more than half a second. He should have been alarmed at the contact, ready to fight if the other intended harm but there was something about the aura around the other that lulled him to calmness. He barely stopped himself from frowning and settled for frowning in his mind. Clearly the transmutation unscrewed something in his head; he could almost hear it rattle.

The other person on their light feet moved around the room, sounding like they were straightening out the room, creating as less noise as possible. Good luck with that. The place was almost as empty as the barracks that the low guards used and those are seriously blank. But they seemed to be doing their best to stick around as long as they could. Were they here to check on him? If then why were they still here? The main idea of the whole faking thing was to get as much information as possible before he confronted them but with as much stuff he was getting here he might as well go at the dragon with nothing but a dead clam. There really isn't that much difference between as live clam and a dead one but that as close as he could get to describing his information-less situation.

He was debating whether to continue faking or not when there was a soft bump and a shower of loud thumps right in front of him as the person gasped. He felt his face twitch at the loud sound. A flurry of shuffling told him that the person was trying to fix whatever they broke while being a silent as possible. His curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

"I am so clumsy." The soft whisper instantly connected in his memory. And, without any real objection from his part- it was really the pure surprise-, his eyes flew open and his zeroed in on the small figure at the foot of the bouncy bed. All thoughts of feigning sleep swam away like fish from shark.

A human was kneeling in front of the bookcase, book scattered around him and his cloth-covered back was facing Yami. The little human's aura was panicky wavering as his small hands picked up books from the floor, carefully making sure that there were no creased pages before putting it back where it belonged on the adequate bookcase. His movements were accurate and precise, putting away the books silently and quickly. The human's hair was mainly black that stuck up into a crown and was lightly tipped with a bright red, matching the soft aura. The voice he had heard from the black communication device was exactly the same one from the whisper. This had to be that human. What had Malik called him?

He could believe how clumsy he was! Really, bumping into a bookcase while trying to be noiseless, how uncoordinated was he? He was supposed to be checking on one of their guest to make sure he was still asleep. It only took a second, to stick his head in and make sure he was up and not panicking but somehow he just had to walk in and delicately stroke the unconscious young man's hair that looked so similar to his own. It was funny really; he thought he had been the only one with such hair. He shouldn't have done that, he should have just looked in and walked on.

But there as just something that didn't let him go and caused him to make sure that the young teen wasn't uncomfortable or injured. Yuugi blamed it on his little inner doctor that popped up everytime someone was wounded. It also fascinated him how similar they both looked alike, it was almost freaky, in a good way of course. Yuugi could now sympathize with Ryou. It seemed that finding someone that was almost your twin somehow brought out slightly obsessive mother hen-like tendencies. Well, no one was really surprised at how many times he went around checking all four patients during the day. Yuugi had barely gotten enough sleep; last night had been one of the most hectic nights of his young life. And not in the good way.

In had been hell getting three naked teens into the truck with the only real man power they had was Jou and Malik and they got tired fast. They had to resort to dragging the last one through the sand even though Yuugi and Ryou had protested. Yuugi didn't really know what to think about this new development other than it would go against all his principles to leave them like that, not to mention the guilt would never let him live it down. Malik had been gasping and spluttering the whole time, at one point he nearly knocked himself out, staring and not watching where he had been going, almost doing a Jou. He swore on all that was green and healthy at those legs had not been there before. He had been going something like this, "W-hat? WHAT? Where'd the fish ends go? They were here before. Guys, seriously, guys! Stop looking at me like that! They were in the water and everything!" And on and on. Yuugi reluctantly put away his uncertainty and focused on what he could do to help. It had been embarrassing to see three naked guys on the beach shore and Yuugi practically felt the heat radiating from his cheeks. Ryou had been no better and even Malik and Jou seemed little uncomfortable but what could they do? They got the three others into the truck, covering them as much as possible with the blankets Yuugi had brought with him.

Jou had grumbled under his breath for most of the time and mentally cursing these weird things that happened to them on vacation. Yuugi knew Jou long enough to recognize his facial expressions and moods. But, overall, Yuugi had been proud of how cooperative Jou had been acting however grudgingly. Yuugi knew that it didn't sit well with him to have people he didn't know very well around him so constantly. Malik had also protested slightly in the beginning but as the night progressed no other complaint passed his lips, working hard to make sure everything was as Yuugi and Ryou suggested, his mind faraway. And it was no easy task especially with all the bedrooms being on the second floor. The only blessing from that is that there were just enough rooms for every single one to have their own. Thank you god of rich uncles.

Jou, Yuugi, and Ryou had been skeptical about the whole tail-now-legs thing that Malik swore on by a number of gods that Yuugi was sure didn't exist. But that was before Ryou had gone to check on Bakura. They had left him rather frustrated. The scream that Ryou let loose almost broke the sound barrier (in fact that glass that Malik had been holding shattered, spilling water all other him) and gave them the third simultaneous heart attack of the night. So that's why Bakura was currently out cold (once again) on one of the beds in the bedrooms and Ryou had been hovering over him like he was dying of a terminal disease. But then again who knows what happened to Bakura's tail.

Malik told them everything about the mermen-now-humans and the talk they had. Yuugi didn't know what to think. All he knew for certain is that Ryou trusted Bakura and Bakura trusted these guys so that would have to be enough for now. Yuugi was practically bursting with curiosity but he couldn't bring himself to wake any of the four race-bending teens. With all the weird things happening he wasn't sure what to expect next. And here he thought that this summer was going to a normal one. Him and his silly notions.

Yuugi hoped that, somehow, the teen on the bed hadn't woken up because of his clumsiness. He was tempted to look behind him, to see if he had woken up but he was half afraid that he did. Of course Yuugi had looked the other over, to make sure he had no injuries (staying well up north thank you) and, he had to admit, the other was handsome despite how much he looked like Yuugi. But what if he was mean and attacked him or something like what happened with Ryou? He could handle rude, irritating, shy, and temperamental but he didn't handle mean very well. Jou said it had something to do with his sweet nature. It was a silly fear, an unreasonable fear on a stranger that he hadn't even spoken to.

Yuugi flipped through the pages rapidly to make sure they had no folded edges. Ryou would have his head or maybe just lecture while Yuugi wallowed in guilt and shame if he found a crinkled page in a book. Yes, Ryou is very protective of books in general. It was one of his quirks. Yuugi bit his lip and slid 'The Secret Life of Bees' on the second shelf. He remembered that he had been assigned to read that in his freshman year and he had taken a liking to it. Maybe he should reread it.

He sighed to himself and slid the last book home. He was wasting time here just because he wanted to observe his look-alike. Malik would have a field day if he found out, Yuugi thought amusedly. With another sigh, he chided himself again for not watching where he was going and stood up. One of these days being so clumsy was going to cost him, he mused thoughtfully and turned around. And he froze like he had been dumped in a bucket of ice.

It looked like the day had come much sooner than expected.

The young man was awake and looking at him with sharp, blood red eyes that watched him with such intelligence and attentiveness in their depths that they almost knocked Yuugi off his feet. His angular features lacked the childish roundness that Yuugi had and he noticed that his lightning bangs gave him the appearance that he was not someone to mess with. So that's why punks' hairdos gave people the impression of 'come near me and I'll kick your ass so hard you won't be able to crap out of it for years' and he looked like he could do it too. Yuugi could faintly see the points of the other's ears behind his hair, reminding him of how Bakura had pointed ears. His back was propped up against the headboard and he vaguely wondered how he did it so quietly that he didn't hear a thing even if he was a few feet away.

Yami looked rather like Bakura, perspective-wise. There was something alluring about the way he looked, all sharp angles, as if his very skin was drawing others' eyes onto him. And the fact that the other was naked under the sheet did nothing to help Yuugi's mild shock.

Yuugi felt his throat go rather dry as the other's eyes kept digging into his soul. Okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly looking inside him but it felt so much like it that Yuugi almost started fainting right then and there. Stop acting like a kid, you are the Master of Games so have some pride, Yuugi thought sternly to himself and cleared his throat a bit louder than he intended, wincing as the sound cut through the room. What was he suppose to say now?

Yami, on the other hand, didn't notice the rather awkward atmosphere in the room. He just noticed how young the human looked. He didn't look more than twelve years old and those had to the biggest pair of eyes he had ever seen, not to mention they were a beautiful shade of shinning amethyst and they kept blinking rapidly for some reason. Yami couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that the human was so small. He looked fragile enough so that a stray breeze might knock him over. His skin was really pale as if he had never been out a day in the sun yet he wasn't sickly looking, he looked quite healthy. It was an odd sight to see since he had been constantly around merpeople who mostly had the same skin tone, very tan.

Yuugi almost ran out of the room with embarrassment. The guy was still staring at him without saying a word which, if you haven't noticed, made little Yuugi feel very uncomfortable. He woke him up with all his noise when he needed to rest. It was his fault. Cue guilt trip.

Yuugi cleared his throat carefully again and it, thankfully, made the other blink, breaking the uncomfortable mood. The guy blinked again, shaking his head then wincing, putting his fingertips to his temple. Immediately a downpour of concern flooded Yuugi and without another thought he quickly made his way to the bedside, eyes wide with worry. His bare feet almost caught fire, that was how fast he was going. The guy jumped slightly and scooted backwards a little, making Yuugi instinctively take a few steps back. He felt slightly hurt but he didn't take it to heart. After all, this guy had no idea where he was but hopefully he wouldn't pull what Bakura did. That was the last thing he needed right now. He was the one in charge of checking everybody's health. He wouldn't do much good if his own health was dented.

Yuugi raised his hands in the air, to show that he had nothing on him (other than clothes, pervs). He guessed he would be better off approaching this like he would a wounded wild animal. The other's breathtaking ruby eyes narrowed slightly, darting over his small frame. Yuugi felt his voice trying to crawl downwards into his throat and forcefully yanked it to where he needed it.

"Are you feeling okay?" Yuugi asked quietly, disliking the way the guy was rubbing his forehead with on hand and his eyes were starting to droop tiredly. "Would you like something?"

The crimson eyes snapped open completely and fixed on him with unnerving accuracy, making Yuugi want to hide away. He could feel heat start to creep into his cheeks and he impulsively bit his lower lip. Silence once more settled into the room and Yuugi feverishly wished that he would just say _something_ instead of staring like that at Yuugi. It was quite unnerving. Maybe he would have more confidence if he wasn't alone. But this wasn't the time to chicken out. Come on, throw that chicken out of the hen pen and say something.

"Do you feel dizzy or have a headache?" Yuugi questioned, hoping to receive an answer this time.

He blinked at Yuugi owlishly, his hand dropping back to his side and it made him wonder whether he knew how to speak English or if he even understood it. If he didn't then he was in trouble since he only was on his second year of Spanish and could barely hold a conversation. Any other language and he was completely useless. Surely he would know if Bakura knew it as well.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong," Yuugi started sternly, seeing the stiffness in which the other moved in. "Then I won't be able to help you and you won't get better so, if I was you, I'd tell me what I could do to help." Then his severe frown melted into a warm smile that he flashed at the teen on the bed.

He blinked again, something that Yuugi noticed the other did a lot (it was kind of cute if he said so himself), then Yuugi saw his lips twitch upwards into a small smirk and heard a warm chuckle come from him, making Yuugi's own smile grow bigger. Finally, they're getting somewhere. "By the way my name's Yuugi Mutou and you and your friends will be staying here until I say you're better." Yuugi winked at him and giggled slightly, taking one step towards the bed then another when the other boy let him. This was going great!

The teen seemed to contemplate this then nodded faintly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuugi, you may call me Yami," the other teen replied, his voice somewhat rough, like talking was painful and Yuugi caught the momentary sight of slightly pointed canines. That was kind of cool, creepy but cool.

Yuugi frowned, his big eyes narrowing with slight alarm and Yami caught the concern and worry in his eyes which surprised him. He was just a stranger that he barely knew and he was worrying about him. It made Yami feel unexpectedly more at ease with the situation but his headache and dry throat weren't going anywhere. He really needed some water _now_ before he dehydrated himself and evaporated into thin air. Ha, thin air, now that was something he hadn't been able to think about before. But, now, as you'd probably all noticed, he was surrounded by it. Yami was suddenly grabbed by the insane urge to take notes on this…

"Would you happen to have any water?" Yami requested, barely able to speak through his scratchy throat. Yami broke into a fit of furious coughing, the suddenness bending him over his stomach. With every cough, he felt his throat threaten to split in two, sending pain right to his headache, making it twice as worse.

It felt like he was trying to hack up his lungs with a rusty spear. Yami just couldn't stop coughing painfully, his hand futilely curled around his neck in an attempt to get himself under control. It didn't work very well and he faintly felt a flapping sensation behind each ear, drawing in more air that chocked him further. What a time to find out he still had his gills.

Suddenly he felt a small, warm touch on his exposed back. Yami barely had the time to think of the danger before the touch started moving in small, smooth circles and deft fingers combing through his hair comfortingly. Yami couldn't so anything other than try and wait the fit out as much as it pained him. The hands, though, brought some small amount of comfort oddly enough.

Yuugi furrowed his brow worriedly and as much as it aggrieved him that he couldn't do anything, he waited until, minutes later, Yami's coughing thankfully slowed down, leaving him breathing deeply with difficulty. He wasn't kidding when he asked for water. Yuugi suddenly fell ashamed at his thoughtlessness. Of course, he would have felt so thirsty after going so long without water especially if he really had been a merman. He mentally kicked himself and continued rubbing circles into Yami's back, the best he could do right now.

Yami's breath's slowed down to ragged gasps. Yuugi winced at the pain it must have caused. The soft hair slipped through his fingers and Yuugi reveled in the texture, wishing his hair was as soft. Then suddenly, as red eyes gazed at him in confusion, Yuugi suddenly caught up with what he was doing and retracted his hands quickly, a bright blush growing on his face. What was he doing? He touched a stranger without his permission. For all he knew it could have been a really rude thing to do. Yuugi didn't Yami to dislike him.

"Ah! I'm s-sorry!" Yuugi cried nervously, backing away and wringing his hands together. "I s-shouldn't done that without permission. I'm sorry!" Yami blinked again and opened his mouth to speak but he didn't get the chance to. "I'll go get you water now! Yeah, water!"

"Wait-" Yami started to rasp out, raising a hand to stop the human.

"Stay here!" And with that Yuugi turned around so fast he almost tripped over his own feet, and yanked open the door, face brighter than before. He figured that he would look a lot like a tomato right about now and that just made the embarrassment raise another level.

"Hey-" The door slammed shut, trapping whatever he had been about to say on the other side.

Yuugi groaned to himself and barely stopped from hitting his head against the wall he leaned next to. He acted so stupid! He acted like a shy love-sick girl in front of a crush and Yami was still injured on top of that. Some kind of doctor he would turn out to be if this was the way he treated his patients. Yuugi groaned again and pushed off the wall, his heart thumping like mad in his chest. He might as well get that water while he calmed down.

He sighed softly and started walking down the hallway, dragging his steps. He would apologize to Yami once he came back, he decided firmly; otherwise his guilt would overcome him and make him do something stupid. Yuugi listened carefully as he passed by the doors but he heard no more sounds from anywhere, telling him that Bakura and the other two hadn't woken up yet. Yuugi was thankful, he had his hands full with Yami at the moment.

He wondered where his friends were. Jou and Malik were downstairs the last time he saw them. Ryou was probably still watching over Bakura diligently as he has all night. Yuugi had to admire Ryou's dedication and Yuugi knew that Bakura held a special place in Ryou. He didn't know how but he just hoped whatever happened that Ryou wouldn't get hurt.

He made it to the stairs and started going down, one hand holding on the banister. Yuugi counted all the steps in an attempt to make his blush retreat and, by the time he made it to the last step, his face had gone back to its original shade. Thank goodness for that. He knew Malik and Jou would have teased him something awful. Yuugi puffed out his cheeks at the silly thought. As soon as his feet touched the bottom floor he heard several whispers, low and bothered, making Yuugi instantaneously swerve in their direction, the living room.

But he stopped short of entering it, staying out of sight. He shouldn't be here, he thought uneasily, shifting feet. The soft conversation was filled with tension and Yuugi just wanted to intervene but he knew he shouldn't. It wasn't his place to as much as he wanted to. But Yuugi couldn't guiltily help to catch a few of the sentences that floated through the doorway.

"If ya don tell meh I can't help ya," Jou's accented voice said in low tone. It was the apprehensive undercurrent that bothered Yuugi the most. Jou didn't use that tone of voice very often.

"There is nothing wrong, Jou, I told you that," Malik's irritable voice implied that this conversation was not going in the way he wanted.

"Dat's not true and ya knows dat," Jou said, annoyance and frustration clear that his patience was running thin.

"I don't know where you got that stupid idea. Leave me alone. I'm not a kid that needs to be protected, you know."

"Den stop actin' like a kid and tell meh wat's wrong."

"It's none of you business, Jou. I'm totally fine!" Malik hissed, his voice rising in anger. Yuugi winced. Malik sounded really mad…

"Keep ya voice down," Jou growled. "It's ma business w'en one of ma friends aren't actin' like demselves. Ev'r since we picked up dem ot'ers ya've been actin' weird, weirder dan usual and I wanna know why."

"There is no why for gods'sake," Malik groaned, snarling.

"Yes, dere is!"

"No, there isn't!" There was some furious shuffling and thumps and Yuugi hoped they weren't hurting each other. "And even if there was, it's my problem." Their voices had risen loudly unheeded and Yuugi started worrying about the volume waking the sleeping teens.

"Fine! Be dat way. See if I'll try an' 'elp ya ag'in!"

Yuugi barely had time to scoot back hastily before Malik stormed out, his hair whipping around his head and eyes flashing angrily, the air around him tense and repelling. He was so caught up in his need to escape that he completely missed Yuugi, who gazing at him worriedly as he marched, anger vibrating in each step, down the hall, obviously towards the stairs.

His amethyst eyes stared at Malik's rapidly retreating back until he disappeared up the staircase. He looked back inside the living room when he heard an angry sigh and soon, Jou came into the hallway, the dejected expression looking out of place on his face. He blinked, surprised, when he saw Yuugi there with an upset look on his face. Jou sighed again and tried to bring out a smile, only getting there halfway. Jou knew that Yuugi heard at least the ending of his and Malik's 'conversation' even though it was more like an argument.

"'Ey, Yuge," Jou said with fake cheerfulness that he knew Yuugi would see right through.

"Is everything alright?" He couldn't help asking even though he knew everything was far from fine. It hurt him when his best friends were fighting with each other. They hadn't had a real fight in years. They mostly got into these mock fights that ended up with them having fun.

"Yea'… no, not really," Jou sighed and ran a hand through his mop of blond hair. "Malik's been actin' weird lately an' 'm jus' worried, ya know. 'E won't tell meh wat's wrong an' its drivin' meh crazy."

"Yeah, I've noticed it too," Yuugi agreed softly.

And he has too. As he said before Malik barely said anything last night, his attitude even stranger than it had been before. Something happened while he was out. Malik had been detached from the group, not talking very much and when he did it was as if he was distracted. He hadn't eaten anything since they came back to the summer beach house, corralling himself in his room or in the arcade. Malik was a sociable, good-natured guy who loved to be in the center of attention. Jou was right when he said Malik hasn't been himself. Yuugi had been meaning to talk to him about it but Jou beat him to the punch and he didn't seem to appreciate it.

"We'll just have to wait until he feels comfortable telling us," Yuugi reasoned, reassuringly.

"Ya' I sup'ose so," Jou admitted then grinned widely, shaking off the concern. " 'Ow's every'ding upstairs?"

"Oh!" Yuugi exclaimed, suddenly remembering what he came down stairs for. "That's right I have to get water for Yami."

"Yami?" Jou asked curiously. Was that the tall brunette teen? Then he mentally shook his head at the thought. Who gave a damn about him? He didn't that's for sure. It didn't matter that he had been sneaking looks in the room he was staying in. Who cares if Jou could practically feel the heat from where he accidentally touched the brunette the night before? He ignored it, passing it as the beginnings of a cold. That was his excuse. Deal with it!

"Yeah, he woke up a few minutes ago, the one that kind of looks like me," Yuugi replied cheerfully, starting to walk towards the kitchen. Jou nodded, looking a bit disappointed and trying to mask it. Jou was never really good in covering his emotions. "He fell into a coughing fit and he needed some water."

"Oh," Jou said intelligently, following his smaller friend into the shinny kitchen, yes, shinny. Somehow, through all the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners it's been through, its floor is still as shinny and waxy as they were when they first came here. Maybe the shininess had been painted on, somehow? Yes, he should buy the paint and use it on his own kitchen floor so his dad won't be all up in his caboose telling him to clean it. It would certainly save him some of the hurt. "Well did 'e say anyding 'bout, well, anyding?"

"A-ah," Yuugi stuttered, his blush coming back from the dead. He coughed discreetly (not really) into his fist. "I kind of ran, um, left before he could say much of anything really." Please don't say anything. Please.

Jou couldn't help but to smile disturbingly wide at the blush. "Ma, ma, it looks like lil' Yuge' 'ha a crush, huh?" Jou laughed loudly at the splutters and if Yuugi had been drinking something at that moment he would have sprayed it all over the hall. "Awww, dat's cute!"

"Jou!" Yuugi whined, speeding up so that he would leave Jou behind. Of course his plan failed as Jou's legs were significantly longer than his. "I do not have a crush on him! He just had a coughing fit and needed water. That's all!"

"Yea', 'm so sure," Jou said amusedly. "Righ' passin' da fact dat ya has a crush, 'ow are da oders?" He tried to sound aloof but he probably didn't make it very well. Why was he asking anyways? It's not like he was waiting or anything. Sure he was damn curious about how Bakura suddenly switched races and he wasn't willing to wait until he exploded. He wasn't very gifted in that area.

"I don't think the others are up yet," Yuugi explained, walking over to the counter and looked up at the cabinets. He frowned and, rising on his tip-toes and stretching his arms as high as he could, tried to open the topmost cabinet. He put one hand on the counter and tried to push himself higher, straining at grab the little gold handle that was _just _out of his reach. Curse you hereditary shortness.

Jou couldn't help laughing at the sight, which made Yuugi pout determinedly and tried to jump with as high as he could, his fingers barely grazing the handle. Yuugi was just too cute sometimes. He walked over to where his vertically challenged friend was struggling, reached over his spiky do, and opened the cabinet displaying the jars inside. Yuugi practically deflated and dejectedly pointed at a large clear pitcher which Jou promptly grabbed, trying not to knock anything else, and gave it to Yuugi, who was still pouting by the way.

"'Ere ya are," Jou said, passing Yuugi the pitcher.

"Thanks," Yuugi muttered. Being so short was going to be the end of him one day. He made his way past Jou to the sink and turned on the faucet to cold, putting the pitcher under the water flow. Soon the pitcher was filled to where there was enough water and it wouldn't mysteriously overflow.

Placing the pitcher on the counter, he shut off the faucet. 'Waste not, want not' as his grandpa use to say. Yuugi dried his hands on a spare hand towel so that he wouldn't accidentally drop the pitcher. Now that would be bad. Yuugi carefully placed his hands around the clear container and picked it up, almost dropping it off the bat. He managed to stop it from spilling more than a few drops, wrapping his skinny arms around the whole thing, and he grinned triumphantly at Jou. Aha, who's the man now?

"Ya forgot dis," Jou said casually, placing the glass he had grabbed earlier in the little opening of Yuugi's bent elbow. He pushed it down so it was snuggly in place and wouldn't fall out.

Yuugi jumped at the sudden move, shifted the pitcher so that he could adjust the glass. "Ah, thanks, Jou." He nodded at him. It would have been odd to fetch a glass while he carried the pitcher.

"Sure, I'll be in ma room," Jou said, nodding back and backing out of the kitchen without further ado, his socked feet making no sound on the shinny floor. Might as well start on those geometry worksheets. Joy.

But just as he was stepping out, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Jus' be careful, al'righ? We don' know wat dese guys are in trouble for an' we don' know if we can trust dem."

"I'll be careful, Jou," Yuugi agreed softly. ""Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure nothing will happen." At least he hoped so.

"Hopefully ya'r righ'," Jou said, turning back around. "Later."

"I'll call you when lunch's done," Yuugi said, catching Jou's head in a faint nod as he vanished. Yuugi hitched the pitcher and glass higher and started to make his death-defying journey back upstairs. He carefully maneuvered over to the stairs, barely able to see over the top of the pitcher, the water sloshing slightly inside.

Yuugi journeyed down the plain hallways, eyeing the picture of a nighttime city on the way, to the long stairs, balancing perilously. He ogled incredulously the steps before him- had they always been that long?- and sighed, he really did like this shirt. But he picked up his courage and shuffled forwards; tilting the pitcher to keep it from tipping over, almost dropping the glass in the process. Careful, careful Mutou, you can do this. Come on, heart of the cards!

Stumble. Slosh.

"Aw, man!"

And that was him stumbling on a step, spilling a small wave of water over his chest and face. Did he mention it was cold? Well, yeah, it was. Yuugi sighed and continued on, mentally apologizing for the trail of water his hair was dripping on the carpeted stairs. Hopefully no one would notice. His blue t-shirt was now slightly wet and sticking to his skin and Yuugi wished his hands were free to unstick it.

After that slight accident, his foot touched the second floor landing. Instead of continuing up to the third staircase in front of him he made a right and went to the room where Yami's room. Hopefully Yami wouldn't be angry with him for backing out so abruptly. Yuugi thought he heard something, a very slight shuffling and muttering but when he stopped, listening to see if he heard correctly, there was nothing but silence, making Yuugi reluctantly keep walking. He was sure he heard something. Must have been his imagination.

Um, how was he going to open the door without any hands? Well, this is a new dilemma. Maybe he could head butt it open. Yuugi got as close to the door as possible and cautiously reached with his hand at the doorknob while not moving his arm. It was quite difficult. He stretched his fingers as far as they could and barely reached around the gold knob. Bingo! He grinned with glee and opened the door, bumping his hip against the door to open it wider.

The door creaked open and he was met with a curious sight. Yami was twisted oddly in the bed, sheets still covered his lower body, thank the heavens. He was examining curiously the small black clock that had been on the night table next to the bed, his amazing blood-red eyes narrowed as he rotated the little clock around in his hands, pressing all the different buttons. It was the simple child-like curiosity that had Yuugi almost squealing like a fangirl. It just would have just been a scary thing to witness but thankfully, he swallowed it and just smiled at the scene.

Well, he had been bored, you know, and he has a natural curiosity for anything alien. It just so happens that he was surrounded by strange things. How could anyone expect him to stay still? He had examined the sheets, the bed itself, the night table drawer, the lamp, the wooden plank behind the bed, and the clock. As much as it hurt to move he just had to discover these human artifacts. His body seemed to be recovering fast in the mean time. It had been easier to move his arms and he had even shifted his legs slightly. His headache still pounded in his head but it was slightly less painful that before. It was his throat that pained him the most.

But really what do these red stick-like figures mean? Are they some kind of symbols that inhabit magic? After a certain period of time he noticed that one or two, sometimes three, of the red symbols change. He was tying to figure out the pattern when the door open and Yuugi came back in.

"Having fun?" Yuugi said, smiling, still feeling slightly embarrassed at how he acted earlier. He would have to apologize.

"Oh, hello again," Yami replied as best as he could, his voice still hoarse. He looked back at the small box he held and cautiously put it back where he found it. It might explode if he wasn't careful. He looked back up.

That's when he got a good eyeful of what the human was carrying. It was a large see-through container full of beautiful, life-giving, glistening water. He could hear the chorus of sirens, singing in glorious praise in the background. And suddenly he decided that all humans were wonderful, amazing, creatures. Water, my precious. All his skin felt so dry like it would shed off into layers and wither away into nothingness. He watched diligently, eyes trained on the container, waiting with fever for that container of blessed, holy liquid to come near and grace him with its healing properties. And yes, being deprived of water did funny things to mermen.

Yuugi was enthralled by the colors of Yami's eyes. They were a shade that he had never seen before. As if blood crystallized into rubies and was placed there, sharp to the very core of their being. And people say that his eyes were unique; they obviously never saw Yami's eyes. Yuugi unconsciously stared at them until he noticed the thirst and hunger swimming in their depths like piranhas, looking desperately at his pitcher, which was starting to strain his arms.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I got distracted. You must be very thirsty," Yuugi said hastily, shuffling his way to the little night table. He was so forgetful it made him ashamed! He heaved the heavy water vase onto the night table, stray drops of water falling onto the wood. Yuugi even managed to catch the glass before it fell. He was on fire to-day! Yes, siree Bob, he was.

The glass of water had barely been filled when a hand shot out and grabbed the glass like it had been on the receiving end of a cannon, and not the kind of canon that was safely on paper either. Yuugi didn't even have time to squeak before Yami was guzzling down the water so fast that Yuugi though he would drown himself. In fact, the act was almost so violent, Yuugi could have sworn they were under attack. Then he felt bad. He wasted so much time when Yami had clearly been suffering.

"H-hey, calm down," Yuugi exclaimed, reaching over to cover softly but firmly the slightly webbed hands that clutched the smooth glass. He noticed the thin rivers of water that spilled from the glass down Yami's throat. A tad bit distracting if he would say so. "You'll get sick if you drink too much. I didn't go through all the trouble to make sure you're alright just to fall sick again."

Yami almost jumped at the touch- a soft, velvety, gentle touch, he noticed- but was immensely glad he hadn't because that would have made him spill his water and that was a big no-no. It was pure pleasure as water spilled down his dry and deprived throat all the way down to his stomach. How he missed water. He could already feel the moisture seeping back into his skin and boosting the healing process on his body. But all too soon that cup was empty and the last drop fell. He almost felt like crying but he didn't; that would have made him use up more water, you know.

"Slow down," Yuugi said softly, taking the empty glass from Yami's reluctant fingers. He couldn't help but smile at the thwarted expression Yami had. The small boy turned and refilled the glass, this time with less water than before. It wouldn't do to have all this water spill all over the place. He was the one who would end up cleaning any messes anyway.

Yami coughed, partly from his throat partly from embarrassment. "My apologizes," he said politely. No need to piss off his captor however innocent they may seem (and damn, he looked really innocent). "It has been a while since I've had any water. Feels damn uncomfortable."

A pale hand presented him with another glass of water which he immediately took, a little less desperately this time. It felt wonderful, the coolness of the liquid replenishing his body. Never again would he take for granted the gift that was water. The third and fourth glasses of water went in similar fashion but with a more noticeable calm. A small dip appeared in the bed as Yuugi uncertainly sat down, waiting to see if Yami would object but other than the slightly tensing of Yami's shoulders he didn't do anything. Maybe Yuugi was pushing it a little too far but his legs were getting tried of standing so much and he did have some questions to ask.

Once he finished a majority of the water in the pitcher, he tilted his head back and sighed satisfactorily. He felt much batter as the water started to settle in his system and his limbs seemed to start to get lighter. Water did a body a great deal of good. Even the pressure of his magi core seemed to lessen. Yami leaned back into the wooden plank and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again and looked back at the boy sitting next to him with a bit of surprise. Funny, he momentarily forgot about the human. A frown flickered over his face. He had been trained to not let his guard down but he had, right now. Why?

"Do you feel better?" Yuugi asked, putting the empty glass on the night table. His hand smoothed the front of his damp shirt. He would have to change soon. "Do you need something else?"

"No, I think I'm fine," Yami assured the other, who reflexively relaxed.

"That's good!" Yuugi replied cheerfully, grinning. Then he tilted his head curiously, looking at him. "Can I ask you some questions?" Then Yuugi backtracked as Yami gave him a suspicious glance. "B-but it's okay if you don't want to! I-I mean, I, uh, won't push you or anything. I'll just listen, uh, if you want to talk 'cause if you don't that perfectly fine!" And he felt like an idiot.

Yami looked at him studiously, weighing the pros and cons. Was this all that the human had wanted from the beginning, the reason for all this kindness? But one look in those eyes and face dispelled all other thought. That aura didn't have a trace of dark intensions in it, just an almost blinding white that shinnied with sincerity. Yami almost sweatdropped at the look on Yuugi's childish face. Seriously, this kid could put a saint to shame.

"If I can ask some of my own questions," Yami finally said.

Yuugi nodded instantly, a large smile adoring his face. "Like a game!" he said with such enthusiasm that it startled him momentarily. "I'll ask one question then you can ask one. Then it'll be fair."

"Okay then, ask away," Yami agreed, a brief smirk rising. It was so easy to relax around this human and his aura.

"You said it was uncomfortable when you didn't have water for a long time," Yuugi said. "Were you really a merperson like Malik said?"

Yami tensed, eyes automatically narrowing in alarm. What was this? Then Yami, against his instinct, closed his eyes. Of course Malik would have told his friends. It would have been no surprise to them if they truly had housed Bakura here. He knew Bakura was close, he had seen a white-haired figure when his probe exploded.

This was a human, a long time enemy of the merpeople, because of them they had hidden in the dark depths of the seas. He knew that he should shun the question right away, with no hesitation, and refuse to answer anything he human dished out but since when had he ever followed the rules? Though this could turn out in his favor if Yami played his cards right.

"I am still a merman," Yami said slowly then continued explaining as Yuugi frowned in confusion. "Just because I have legs doesn't change that fact. I used a transmutation spell on myself and my friends in order to give us legs. We were in a bit of a tight spot and that was one of the options that looked to be the best. I may have legs but almost every else is exactly the same as before."

"Oh," Yuugi said for a lack of anything to say. So that was why the other still had pointed ears, gills, and webbed fingers. "Okay then your turn now to ask the question." He smiled widely.

"Alright," Yami nodded, tilting his head back again to look at Yuugi through his golden bangs. What did he want to ask first? Might as well see if he was alone or not. He was pretty sure he wasn't but he needed to make sure. "Are Bakura, Marik, and Seto here as well?"

"I thought you would ask that," Yuugi said pleasantly as if this was an everyday conversation. "I suppose Marik and Seto are your friends that were with you on the beach. Malik didn't say anything else about them. He is pretty upset. I don't know why," he explained in response to Yami's curious expression, a sad look passing over him. "He's been a bit off lately and he's worrying us."

Then Yuugi jumped guiltily, sending an apologetic look at Yami. "Sorry, I got sidetracked. I tend to do that," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, sending the black and red spikes swaying. "Well, both of them are unconscious in two of the rooms in the house. As far as I could see neither had any injuries and both seemed to have their legs firmly on. They didn't fall off or anything. Bakura's here too. He looked kind of, well, kind of dead. But he's fine," Yuugi said quickly at the alarmed glint in Yami's eyes. "I just think his body's adjusting to having legs instead of a tail. I think he deserves a rest."

"What?" Yami exclaimed, shocked beyond belief. It was the kind of shock that almost made one's eyes pop out. He sat up quickly, almost falling over. "That can't be right! The transmutation should only have worked on the three of us. Bakura wasn't included in the spell; he wasn't even in the magi merging! There's no way that Bakura could have been affected too. We haven't seen him in days." He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

There was no way that could have happened! Bakura's magic would have had to have touched Yami's at the point when he merged all their magi together in order to have been included in the transmutation. "Where was Bakura last night?" Yami demanded, his mid racing to find out what could have gone wrong. If there was a fourth magi included then he could have miscalculated the whole thing!

"Bakura?" Yuugi asked cautiously, leaning backwards from Yami instinctively. Yami's face was intensely thoughtful, his eyebrows pinched together, and staring at Yuugi with an force that made him want to hide under the sheets. But like the little trooper he was, he stayed above sheet level. "As far as I know he was in the pool here the whole time. Ryou found him at the bottom and it almost made him faint."

But Yami wasn't listening. As soon as Yuugi finished the first sentence his mind was shooting sparks light-years away. There was no way in hell that Bakura could have also been included in the spell if his magi didn't have contact with his. The only way that could have been remotely possible is that some kind of connection that was linked to Bakura's magic was present at the time of the spell activated. But a connection like that was really difficult to make especially if the maker was so far away. Yes, this is a mystery!

"Okay, my turn! Why-oh, Yami! Are you listening?" Yuugi was hesitant to talk but it was his turn! They had to follow the rules and all that junk. "It's my turn to ask a question."

"What? Oh, yes, go on." He forcefully dragged his brain from the little scholar's corner and focused it on the little human. He would have to think about this later. There had to be a reason for Bakura's changing.

"Cool! Okay so here's my question: Why are you guys running away?"

Silence. Yami was even more reluctant to answer that question. Even he knew that he shouldn't tell things to a human about Meridian life especially if said humans had contact with the Royal Guard. It was almost too absurd to even think about, that the guards would have willingly contacted humans and were allied with them. He almost wanted to laugh, the idea was that stupid. But he couldn't take any chances for him and his friends. Bakura would be put under the Nent Kujiku, a fate some say is worse than imprisonment in the granite cages, which is no seahorse ride if you catch his drift. But if Bakura stayed here this long, willingly, then they should be trustworthy enough. Bakura was almost as paranoid as Seto and that was saying something.

"We ran into some trouble back home and we needed to leave before something else happened," Yami explained as short as he could. It was the truth just a bit- a lot- watered down. "As I said, we figured that going on land would be the safest place for us to be right now."

"That makes sense," Yuugi said slowly and thoughtfully. "If whatever happened was in water then going on land would separate them from you. But what if whoever's chasing you does the same thing you did?"

"I seriously doubt that," Yami chuckled. He could help but to let a bit of arrogance seep into his words. "Only a seriously powerful magician and several other strong magic sources can do a proper transmutation spell. Most of them can't magic their way out of a basket. It's kind of sad really."

"Wow, you must be really strong to do that," Yuugi said agreeably, awed. He must have even more power than Bakura. So his instinct about Yami not being a person to mess with was spot on. Ah, man, he was good at this. He should go into business if there was a business about it. Maybe there was, hm, he'd have to check. Yuugi started picking at the front of his wet shirt mechanically. It was really starting to bug him.

"People do tend to say that a lot," Yami said smugly. He just couldn't help rubbing it in people's faces sometimes. "I think it my turn to ask now." His face turned stern and hard. "Why are you helping us? We're complete strangers. What could you possibly gain from helping us?"

Then the human did something that took him by surprise. Yuugi blinked then laughed loudly, shaking his shoulders. He sniffed and grinned at the stupefied merman. "I like to help people, Yami. I never expected anything from you in return and even if you had something to give I wouldn't accept it. I help people because everyone needs help once in a while and I want to do anything I can to make sure they get through the day. That's just the way I am."

Was this for real? Yami just couldn't believe what he was hearing. If it was anybody else telling him this then he could have immediately dismissed it as false but, somehow, with Yuugi he just couldn't. This human, he decided, was a puzzle, one that he would figure out. If he stuck around long enough.

"I have never met someone quite like you," Yami said quietly, observing Yuugi even more intently now.

"I am glad," Yuugi giggled, clapping his hands together lightly. "Everyone likes to be an individual, you know. But, to say the truth, I've never met anyone like you either. Of course I've met very few merpeople so I don't really have much to compare to." His laugh ran clear like the chime of a bell.

Yami felt a good-natured smirk form on his tanned face. His headache was almost nonexistent and he almost felt as good as new, give or take a few kinks or sores. It was so easy to lighten up with this little human. Yami could tell that Yuugi and Mana would have gotten along great.

"You're an odd little human."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Yami looked better now, Yuugi noted. His smooth voice wasn't hoarse or raspy anymore and he was moving with more ease, without any expressions of pain. He would have to ask the guys to bring water to the other mermens' rooms for when they woke up. If they still had the basic system of a merman then they would need more water than for a usual human. He made a mental note about it and stashed it in his mind file.

They sat in comfortable silence and Yuugi thought that things were going nicely but that was before a sudden high-pitched scream erupted through the house, making both Yami and Yuugi jump with surprise; the latter falling off the side of the bed with a short cry of shock.

"What was that?" Yuugi squeaked, alarmed, peeling his forehead from the floor and staring with wide eyes at the door. He had always heard about people saying that they were so startled that they almost jumped out of their skin but he never could say that he had the pleasure of feeling the same thing. _Now_ he knew exactly how they felt. If his skin had been an inch looser than he would have jumped out of it faster than an Indies 500 racecar. "That sounded like Malik!" Oh, what could have happened now? He had been having fun, too…

Yuugi speedily picked himself off the floor, missing the bed frame by an inch, and made quickly for the door, his mind already picturing pictures of fatal accidents and badly done manicures. Trust him, both things could get Malik to scream that loud. His hand barely wrapped around the knob before he remembered that he was leaving someone behind and very rudely too; Yami.

Yami didn't say anything, just tensed and all but burrowed in his sheets like a squirrel in winter, his blazing eyes glaring at the door like he wanted someone to chop it into tiny pieces, crumble them to ashes and light the remains on fire, in that order. To Yuugi he looked kind of pissed which made him very reluctant to talk just in case the other voodoo-ed him.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" Yuugi said, his breath coming in quick puff of air. He hated leaving Yami with such a short notice again but, really, that scream scared the shit out of him (figuratively) and, as experience has taught him, screaming was never a good sign either joy- or fear-filled. Usually the joy screams got him squished to death and the fear ones were bad, naturally.

The bundle of sheets that probably was Yami's head (it was sort of star-shaped) shifted up and down what Yuugi interpreted as an affirmative nod. All this screaming and startling couldn't be good for his health; the health Yuugi was trying to get and maintain at the 'good' level bar. He was really started to feel guilty about all this racket since the best thing for Yami at this point was to rest. That transmutation thing must have taken a lot of out him.

"I won't take long," he said, rushed and bolted out the room onto the hall, not bothering to close the door.

He looked around wildly at the silent hallway, not sure where Malik's scream came from. Yuugi turned around jerkily as a door opened behind him, thinking that it was Malik bursting panicky into the freedom that was the hallway but instead a startled and wide-eyed Ryou jumped out, his hair askew. He realized that the room he came out of was Bakura's room.

"What happened?" Ryou asked breathlessly at Yuugi, one hand still on the door knob. "I was watching over Bakura when the scream sounded. It was Malik." Ryou didn't even have time to feel embarrassed at the fact he'd been vigilantly watching over Bakura like a school girl with a crush.

"I don't know, I was with Yami, one of the mermen who woke up," Yuugi explained, seeing surprise and shock in his friend's face. He totally forgot to tell Ryou. Some sort of friend he was. But right now wasn't the time to go over how many times he didn't win the 'best friend' award. "I'll tell you about it later."

Ryou reluctantly nodded, clearly curious beyond belief. But Ryou was too polite too shake the information out of Yuugi so waiting it was. "Where's Malik? It isn't like him to scream out of nowhere, without a reason." Well, it kind was like him but no one needed to know that right now.

"I agree," Yuugi agreed, starting to feel nervous again. Again that was information was on a need-to-know basis.

"So what are we going to do?"

As if some higher being had heard them and decided to take a break out of doing higher-ly things to help them poor little humans out, a loud barrage of foul cussing and unnerving thumps and crashing came from the room that had one of the mermen, magically pointing out the place that would end their long and tiresome search. A noisy crash only further panicked the already panicky boys as they raced at the innocent-looking door, the only thing keeping them from the chaos that could be heard all too clearly inside.

"Get off me you infernal catfish!" Malik screamed from inside followed by a loud, nerve-wracking crash that had both boys outside wincing. There goes the lamp. And it was a nice lamp too. A pretty purple one in shape of a seahorse. "Touch me again and I'll break your face into **pieces**!"

"But Malik-pretty..!" a deeper, unfamiliar voice, slightly rough and hoarse, whined like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. "You're so warm and cuddly!" This odd statement was followed by a surprised squeal that Ryou and Yuugi were sure came from their despairing friend. It was kind of creepy to hear that Malik, the one who could bend a jock into a pretzel, could do such an accurate imitation of a schoolgirl.

Time to do like Superman and fly to the rescue.

The proper thing to do in a rescue like this would have been to step backwards, kick the door in, and rush in heroically, all the while roaring in a dramatic fashion for the villain to unhand their friend but this is Yuugi and Ryou we're talking about (the door was mahogany. Expensive and hard) so all they did was open the door and peak inside, eyes growing larger than usual.

"What are you waiting for? Get him off me!" Malik yelled desperately at the stunned faces poking inside the room.

"Um." Ryou and Yuugi couldn't help but stare at this very unusual sight. Unusual sights were getting to be very usual around this time of year.

Malik was on the floor on his back and was currently hitting and flailing on the naked tanned young man that was laying on top of him, arms wrapped around the human in a very tight death bind (or it could be a hug. Who knows?). Malik was screaming profanities and curses, pulling cruelly on the spikes of dusty blond hair of the other teen, who it seemed couldn't feel the strands of hair that were being ripped from his skull. His face was currently nuzzling where the shoulder and neck met in a very good imitation of some kind of feline. Malik's legs were kicking desperately under the other body but it didn't seem to be doing much against the teen's sturdier and broader frame. Malik didn't seem to take too kindly to this.

"Get this tuna **off** me!" Malik cried angrily, trying to push the teen's face away from him with limited success, most likely due to the fact that he was in a very awkward position from the floor. "For the love of god, help me!"

"Human-pretty smells nice," the other boy said roughly, weaving his bare limbs with Malik's. "I like yoooouuuu sooooo much." He seemed to be really comfortable where he was despite his screaming pillow.

"Stop standing there and help me," Malik cried again at his stunted friends, wishing they would do something other than stare with mouths open. Like say, oh he didn't know, help him!

Yuugi snapped out of his daze and moved forwards, not sure which way to approach this. Should he poke the guy with a stick? The guy was obviously still naked which explained that full blown blush on Malik's face. "Um, excuse me?" he said meekly, glancing back at Ryou for help. His cheeks were probably on fire by now. Seeing a naked guy on one of his friends wasn't a very good way to start the day.

Ryou just continued staring and his pale face also grew warm, bringing his hands to gently pat his cheeks in an effort of bring himself out of his stupor. He noticed, over all the screaming, that the room was littered with books and small pieces of glass and ceramics that could hurt someone. That was dangerous. He would have to clean that up later.

The merman stopped paying attention to Malik's neck and stared up at them, blinking in surprise at the new arrivals. His face also had the sharpness that Yami and Bakura had with dark lavender eyes that peaked out from under dusty blond spikes. Then he smiled widely at them, revealing pointed fangs.

"'Ello!" he said quite cheerfully, his voice slightly strained, probably from the lack of water. Then his eyes widened in recognition and he gasped at them, untangling an arm from his catch to point at them. "It's mini-Yami and mini-Bakura! You friends of human-pretty?"

Malik noticed the slacking grip and decided that this was the time attempt an escape. The sixteen year-old twisted his body around, ignoring the scratches the carpet gave him, and kicked his legs under him in order to propel him forwards. It worked once, who said it couldn't work twice? But Marik seemed to have learned his lesson the first time and was expecting the move. He quickly surrounded Malik by hugging Malik around his shoulders, pinning his arms to his sides. Curses! Foiled. This wasn't good. Malik could feel his breath starting to quicken and the air began to put pressure around him. No! Not again.

Couldn't breathe. Light…where's the light? There light, bright light, no dark, there's no darkness. You're not there anymore, you're not there! Everything's fine. You're not twelve anymore…sixteen, yes, sixteen. He can't touch, hurt him again. He was safe, safe. Ishizu, where's Ishizu? Where. Is. She? He has her! No, not his sister. BREATHE! Ishizu's fine, she's okay so he's okay. Everything's okay…dark, everything's getting so…dark. Stopit.

"Nah-ah," Marik said gleefully and started nuzzling his face in the silky blond strands. He frowned as he felt the body under him start to tense.

Yuugi gasped when Malik was captured and his tanned face started to become panicky, breath coming quickly and heavily and his eyes glazing over. Malik was starting to get claustrophobic. They had to get him out from under there before he went into a fit. Yuugi surged forwards, closely followed by Ryou who quickly caught on to what was happening. They stopped short of the two dark-skinned boys.

"You have to let him go," Yuugi explained, trying not to sound too frustrated as he kneeled next to them. The merman's face swerved to stare at Yuugi, his look confused. He just looked like a small child despite his appearance and Yuugi didn't have the heart to order him around. Yuugi didn't like to order people around but he did it when he absolutely had to.

"Why?" he complained, tilting his head to the side like a cat. "I like Malik-pretty. I want to stay here with him." And he continued comfortably nuzzling Malik, who was hyperventilating and stopped moving around, laying there like a broken doll. A very bad sign.

"Malik is special," Ryou said soothingly from behind Yuugi. "He doesn't like small spaces too much and they sometimes cause him to hyperventilate badly. You don't want that do you?" Please say no and get off him.

"Hyperventilate?" the merman asked, scrunching his nose thoughtfully. For a second Ryou was worried that he didn't know what that meant but then the merman gasped and shook his head furiously. "No! Hurting Malik-pretty is bad. I don't want to hurt him. He's my Malik-pretty."

Then with a grunt of effort he unlatched his arms from around the human and rolled off Malik onto his back. Ryou's face immediately took on several previously undiscovered shades of red and he moved so fast, no one would have believed it to be Ryou. He snatched the discarded blanket from the floor and tossed it over the merman, covering him from virgin eyes.

As soon as the warmth on his back was gone, Malik was able to take in the deepest breath he had ever taken in his life and sucked it down all the way to his toes. The pressure faded away and he was free. Then Yuugi was next to him, rubbing his back and helping him sit up. Malik instinctively climbed onto his shaky feet with the help of Ryou and Yuugi, one holding each arm.

"Are you alright, Malik?" Ryou asked softly, moving Malik's hair from his face. His hands gripped gently on Malik's arm so he wouldn't tip over.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Malik smiled shakily and then moved back from the helping hands standing on his own, is legs shaking but still holding him up.

"Are you sure? You haven't had a panic attack in years," Yuugi pressured Malik, not liking the wavering and uncertain look in Malik's eyes. He had a suspicion that this wasn't the first time he had a panic attack recently. It would have taken him several more minutes to snap out of a panic attack if he hadn't had one in years. The shaky smile wasn't fooling anybody.

"Really, Yuugi, I said I'm fine!" Malik snapped a bit harsher than he intended to, making Yuugi give him big hurtful eyes. Damn him and those eyes. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Yuugi. I'm perfectly fine."

Yuugi still wasn't convinced but he decided to trust his friend, for now. He turned over to look at Ryou who shrugged helplessly at him. He didn't know what to do either. Malik could be very stubborn when he wanted to.

"Is Malik-pretty alright mini-Yami?" a voice questioned from the ground, making Yuugi look down. The merman was almost identical to Malik except his body frame and hair. His hard lean chest was defined by muscles and a shade darker than Malik's skin. He was sitting awkwardly, legs out in front of him with his arms holding him up. He looked questioningly at Yuugi then a guilty look settled, hanging his head down slightly. "Malik-pretty shouldn't be hurt. Twice human-pretty has been hurt. I will protect him!" Then he cheered loudly like he was in a football stadium.

Yuugi and Ryou looked at him strangely but Ryou felt a small smile creep up at the declaration. That was just so cute. But then the smile melted away as he registered what he had said. Twice? Malik had another panic attack recently?

There it was, the reason. Suspicion confirmed. "Malik?" Yuugi asked quietly, the unasked question hanging in the air. He felt a bit hurt at the lack of trust that Malik had in them. He should have known that they would help him with anything he needed even his panic attacks. They practically knew what happened to him.

But this was Malik they were talking about. And, really, that was all that was needed to be said.

"I don't know what he's talking about," Malik denied softly then sighed, looking more tired than he has been in a long time. "I-just, never mind. Yeah, I had a small-very small, mind you- attack. Not much but…it sort of threw me off, you know?" It was weak but it was all he could think of saying at the moment. His mind was a mess of shame, anger, and self-pity. That last one being the worst. He was Malik Ishtar. And he did _not _wallow in self-pity!

"Why di'n' ya tell us?"

The three humans looked towards the door at the new, but not unexpected, voice. Jou frowned at everybody's rather not-surprised faces, including the blanket-covered Malik look-a-like. And here he thought he ninja-ed up the hallways very ninja-like. He must work on his sneaky moves.

Jou took one look at the situation, checking out every detail, and took in the serious air around the room. He should have been ready to say something along the lines of "I knew there was something wrong!" or "Where is the trust in this friendship?" but instead of vengeful, wrathful words, a snicker crawled uninvited up his throat where he unsuccessfully tired to contain it. He couldn't help it! Malik's clothes were all ruffled and wrinkled a state at which Malik would have screamed in terror if he saw himself. And Yuugi's hair was slightly drooping, giving him a half-wet kitten look and Ryou's white mane was all over the place, pieces sticking up like the fourth of July fireworks. And that guy on the floor just looked ridiculous. How could he not laugh?

Malik gaped at him, not believing that, here he was about puke his guts up, and Jou has the nerve to laugh at him! That's it! He's going down!

"SUMO BODY SLAM!" Malik yelled at the top of his lungs and then charged at full speed at Jou, who had his eyes closed in mirth at the moment. Yuugi and Ryou didn't even have time to try and stop him.

He barely had time to open his eyes before a hundred and twenty pounds of pissed Egyptian barreled into his midsection with the force of a speeding truck, throwing both high schoolers past the open door into the hallway, ending at the floor with a crash. They both slid a couple inches on the wooden floor before Jou yelled and tried to throw the vengeful boys off him.

"Ger'off!" Jou barked, still caught in his laughing fit. His fist shot upwards where in narrowly missed Malik's shoulder, who then retaliated by throwing his weight to the side and successfully making them both start rolling down the hall in a mess of fists and feet, starting to move at an increasingly faster pace.

"Surrender!" Malik cried, hair tumbling all over. He kind of felt like he was stuck in a dryer. But he felt lighter than before now that he was caught in something that he could manage, something that fell into his everyday life routine.

"Ne'vr!" Jou predictably challenged, wrestling and rolling down the hall. He didn't even mind of all the bruises that he knew were going to pop up later. He was use to them and, anyway, he was glad that, at last for a little while, Malik was back to his old self. He was going to win this time! So down they tumbled.

"Jou, Malik, you'll hurt yourselves!" Yuugi raced after them, waving his arms around in a panic, trying to stop them before something bad happened.

Ryou quickly turned and bowed at the confused 'infernal catfish' as Malik put it and mumbled an apology before racing after Yuugi, slipping slightly on the wooden boards. Then he gasped, seeing something, and poured on more speed, catching up to Yuugi. "Careful! You're heading right for the-"

"GAH!"

"WHATDA-!"

"- stairs," Ryou finished a bit too late and could only watch as his two friends tumbled down the stairs, yelping and howling all the way down.

They crashed and hit themselves with the stairs, walls, and each other, bumping heads and arms and everything else bump-worthy. They bounded all the way down without stopping, disentangling their limbs from each other and shrieking like the little girls they were. After what seemed like an eternity of hurt and stars, they reached the bottom with a bang.

Malik's head bounced off the last step and he landed on his back with a thump that was going to hurt later, his left foot propped in the air as it was caught by the handrail, eyes glazed. Jou was in no better state. His face was snuggly squished in between the last step and the floor, the rest of his lanky body hanging off the stairs and arms weakly moving about. They both looked liked they had been caught in the remains of a tornado while dressing themselves.

There was a clatter of footsteps as the other two boys raced down the steps to their injured friends. They stopped short of the mess and gasped, each boy moving towards the closet one.

" Malik, speak to me," Ryou called, lightly slapping Malik's cheeks to get him to focus. " Can you hear me?"

"Are you an angel that's here to take me to Anubis?" Malik mutters dazedly, blinking sluggishly and reaching over to rub the side of his sore head. Ryou had no idea who this Anubis guy was so he didn't answer, just helped Malik to get to his feet without falling. Other than his head, Malik seemed to be fine.

" Jou how many fingers am I holding up?" Yuugi asked, holding up three fingers in front of Jou's face when the rest of Jou's body finished tumbling down the stairs, revealing his dazed face at his smaller friend.

"Uh, four-six' een?" Jou answered, seeing though the scores of stars to see Yuugi's multiple fingers. Why did Yuugi have so many fingers? Was that healthy? Did his hair get even bigger?

"Close enough." Yuugi smiled softly and also brought him to his feet, almost tumbling over himself at the weight his friend put on him. Jou was fine. It would tke more than a little tumble down the stairs to break his friend. But, just to be sure, Yuugi poked Jou's ribs to see if anything was broken or bruised. Nothing, not even a wince or hiss. That's good.

Through the dancing colors and stars, Malik and Jou glanced at each other, a look passing between them that only they understood. Then they both widely grinned in unison, despite their ruffled states. Some things would never change no matter what happened to them. Their friendship was strong enough.

"Jus' like ol' times, eh, Malik?" Jou said with lazy pleasure, pushing his shaggy blond hair back.

"Yeah," Malik easily compiled throwing his arm over Jou's shoulder and leaning on him, making Jou, in turn, lean on him.

Yeah, some things would never change.

All in all, the four grinning boys forgot, wrapped up in the moment, their guests and, at that exact second, the last two mermen woke up. And, it was safe to say, they were not happy.

* * *

The ending was kind of, I don't know, lame, in my opinion. I promise that there will be more action ad stuff in the next chapter. I do ramble way too much, dragging things out. I hope that doesn't put too many of you off. That's the way I write, I hope it puts some shine to your day. I'm just feeling way too sentimental at the moment, as you can clearly see. I'll go know.

Review, please!


	12. Simple Words

**Dancing on the Tide**

**Summery: **(AU Yoai) Four boys and four mermen will meet for the first time; bring together what had been believed never to happen again. Pasts will be revealed and the future now looks uncertain. BxR, YYxY, YMxM, SxJ

**Warnings: **AU, Yaoi, mild cussing

**Chapter Name**: Simple Words

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yugioh then life as I know it would be a lot more exciting. But it isn't so my pathetic little existence is null and void.

**Author Notes: **I don't really have any important notes to say but as usual I want to thank everybody who reviewed. And even more people added me to a list! I feel really honored, really! Thank you!

It been hard writing. I love writing stories for all of you and I won't stop until I completely finished all the stories I began, I promise, but it may take a while. Please hang in there with me.

I typed most of the chapter with two of my fingers taped together… Yeah, I don't know how that happened. It made things slightly more difficult.

"Blah, blah, blah," English

"_Blah, blah, blah," _Meridian

* * *

Sometimes she really wondered what she was doing here. She had the ability to do so much better, to live a grander life and to be her own self after so long. In fact, once upon a time she lived like she always dreamed of living like now. She had been foolish and stupid, always wanting more than what she had and doing whatever she could to get it. It had been her downfall. The fact that she still had that overbearing weakness just made her hate her past even more.

This life of meekness and humbleness did not suit her, not in the least, but she had been pretending for so long now, she could change personalities faster than anyone she could think of. It was a gift, sometimes a curse, but, in the end, it paid off where it was needed. After all, her whole life had been about masks. Everyday, every hour, every minute, and every second a new mask was made.

She looked down at the delicate coral comb and the long length of folded blue silk in her hands, her lips curled slightly in a sneer of distain. Long, elegant fingers curled over the items, almost crushing the costly comb but restraining herself with practiced ease. This was not the time.

"Where are you? Hurry." A growl was forced back down her throat and she quickly schooled her face into polite indifference. With graceful haste she made her way out of the small closet into a larger, more furnished room.

The room was large and spacious, with an open balcony draped with purple and white silk drapes that swung gently with the currents. The walls were made of polished marble and chrysanthemum stone, the blacker stone decorating the edges of the circular room and outlining the large balcony entrance. The bed took about a fourth of the room and took on a comfortable round shape made of the softest sea sponges available. The covers were thin and silkily smooth. All this expensive taste made her want to claw everything to shreds if only because they weren't hers. This was not the time.

"What are you waiting for? Move." That soft but unbearably shrill voce hacked at her brain but nothing on the outside showed of her feelings. She couldn't afford to let it show.

"Coming," she replied emotionlessly, carefully holding the comb and silk cloth in her hands with delicacy.

On the wall opposite to the bed, stood a tall mirror with a silver frame, easily topping her height and reflecting everything in the room without remorse. She almost drifted backwards when she caught her mirror image of the smooth glass but controlled her foolish reactions. This was not the time. A sophisticated dresser made of the smoothest wood had been placed a few years ago under the silver mirror, the malleable brown color only accenting the fine swirls and circles of silver that encircled the mirror, making the metal shine even without light. In front of all this was a small stool, simple compared to everything else in the room, and sitting on that stool, waiting silently but ladylike and proper was Anzu Masaki.

Her famed sapphire tail was curled stylishly around the stool, her gossamer pink-tipped fin dexterously tapping slowly on the marble floor. Her fair hands were vaguely clasped together on her lap, her peach skin contrasting with her turquoise and pink scales. Her bare back was straight as proper mannerism taught her as a child and her head held high. Her apple chest was covered by the standard white clam shells, tied in the back with braided yellow seaweed and a pink pearl clasp. Her impossibly shinning blue eyes calculated her reflection in the mirror with only a slight flicker telling that she knew she was here.

"What took you so long?" Anzu's soft and musical yet screeching echoed inside the silent room. Her eyes moved to study her in the mirror.

"Pardon, I couldn't find the right color," she said civilly and emptily, flicking her tail to approach the other mermaid as slowly and vigilantly as one of Anzu's position deserved. She yearned to swim away from this room, the closest thing to prison that she had ever been through.

Eyes still looked at her reflection. She wanted to scream. "It's alright I suppose," Anzu said faintly, finally moving her eyes from the approaching mermaid. "But time is running short. Please do your best quickly."

"Thank you. I will," she murmured and she floated to a stop behind Anzu, not raising her eyes to look at the accursed mirror. She courteously presented the silk cloth to Anzu, who simply nodded and took it with soft hands. Their hands touched briefly, almost like she imagined it but she knew she did not.

"You may begin," the blue-eyed mermaid commanded quietly, once again looking at the other's reflection in the mirror. She really wished that she wouldn't look at her. It made it that much harder to contain herself. She wanted to scratch and destroy those alluring blue eyes. This was not the time.

"Yes," she replied just as quietly.

She raised the comb and gently ran its teeth throughout Anzu's hair, careful not to scrape the skin. The glossy and sleek brown strands danced through the coral teeth and tickled her hands like the feelers of a spider crab. She kept her gaze on her task, refusing to meet the questioning and probing eyes in the mirror. She knew they were there. They were always there. They had been there for years.

The comb went in and out the short brown hair, smoothing the texture and gently prying what few knots there were without hurting its owner. Very beautiful hair yet so ugly and short like someone butchered the length of hair with a broken spear. She was one of the only mermaids in Taikai that had short hair. No one knew why she had it so short. But she didn't care. She desired to tear off every single striking strand of the small mane but, instead, she diligently groomed it to a shade of perfection which the mirror captured greedily.

Silence. It was so silent. Not even the background noise of the servants working dared penetrate this sanctuary of her desolation. Only the soft noise of Anzu's breathing reached her ears, wrenching something inside her every time she heard that wretched sound. It reminded her of who she served and why she was stood in front of a mirror, a comb in her hand, face blank and dead.

"That's good enough." The comb instantly stilled and was moved to the dresser, her arm faintly brushing Anzu's shoulder, sending shivers of loathing up her spine. Her breath almost caught in her throat but she managed to regain it without pause or notice. She craved to sink that comb into Anzu's chest but instead it was deftly placed on the dresser, amid other accessories and combs.

"What do you wish this evening?" she asked noiselessly, not touching anything she should not be touching.

"The wrap and the pearl pin, if you please." Why is she always so polite especially to her? She itched to shut her up forever just so she won't hear that voice. She didn't want to hear the pity, the yearning. This was not the time.

"Of course," was the only answer she was allowed to give. Her restrictions pressed around her and silently choked her like a prisoner condemned. She felt like screaming and crying while standing strong and killing. She was a prisoner but a prisoner of a different kind.

She was a prisoner of the heart.

Her fingers reached around Anzu's still form to delicately grasp a long golden pin with three shinning white pearls going down its length. It stung her hand like a snake and she almost dropped it in screaming pain but she tightened her grasp on it, ignoring the string like it didn't exist. But it did.

"Hurry up please," Anzu ordered mildly, her deep, deep eyes locking on the older mermaid's lowered eyes. "Time is running out." Her soft hands caressed the silk cloth in her lap fleetingly like the touch of a lover. Wrap it around her neck, choke her. But no. This was not the time.

"Yes," she murmured, bringing the biting pin to the glossy brown hair. She had a sudden image of plunging the sharp end into the head before her and the need gripped her so tightly she couldn't breathe. But just as quickly as it came it disappeared and she regained her sanity. Never free. This was not the time.

The free hand carefully burrowed into the brunette stands, permitting herself the small luxury of feeling them run through her fingers, knowing she was allowed to touch Anzu's hair when fixing it. Then she gathered a smooth bunch of hair from Anzu's left side, bringing them to the top, and let the hair pin close around the end and the hair underneath. She slowly returned her hands back without a word, still not looking up. Never looking up.

"Here," came the soft whisper. She took the offered length of silk without having to retch and wrapped it loosely around Anzu's long neck. Waves upon waves of blue fabric were weaved around the pale neck and shoulders, drawing them in its embrace. She wanted to rip it off. This was not the time.

The pin was slanted at an angle, the largest pearl shined at the tip right above Anzu's forehead. The loop of thick tresses dangled majestically on the left side of her face, exposing her left ear and the emerald loop that hung there. She knew Anzu's eyes glowed even more brightly, the silks bringing out all the shades that dwelt deep in her soul. She looked so beautiful. Just like she knew Anzu would look.

One more soft brush against the hair then she floated backwards, her own hair tickling her face. She fixed her eyes on Anzu's back, following it as she moved. With a soft push from her tail, her fin cartilage waving, she stood straight, looking nowhere but the mirror. Her hands drifted over her silks then moved to her hair, a soft smile touching her lips. With grace that rival the late queen Umi she twirled around, her hair moving so delicately, and for the first time that night faced her without the need of the thrice-damned mirror. Words dangled from the silence that she wrung and she merely dazed passively at her.

She didn't look up. She couldn't. She wouldn't bear to look into those eyes. They belonged to someone else.

"Thank you." Anzu always said that. Every time she did something that pleased her she thanked her. She didn't want to be thanked; she wanted to be cursed at, spat at, and shouted at. Anything but this polite voice thanking her for doing what she was forced to do.

She bowed her head in response as Anzu looked out at the balcony, the drapes swaying in time with the currents. She knew what Anzu was thinking. She always did. Anzu was thinking about how she was to be married at the end of summer. But her fiancée was missing, somewhere out there being the foolish merman he was. Anzu wished to marry, she really did. As much as her heart pained her, she knew she and Anzu were alike even if it was in only two ways. Anzu also lived by masks, by two masks. One while in this room, one while out there, acting like the spoiled and brass girl that had everything a mermaid her age would ever want as everyone expected her to be. She wasn't like Queen Umi, she couldn't keep her masks off. But that's okay. It didn't matter. Not in this room. This room that took her prisoner.

Anzu, she was so beautiful it hurt to look at her. That's why she didn't. She had already made one too many mistakes in her life. She would not make another one. Funny, she had nothing to lose and she refused to be wrong when before she had everything to lose and didn't care if she lost.

She wouldn't look up.

"It's almost time for the dinner to start," Anzu uttered, tipping her head up slightly. She knew Anzu has turned and was looking at her now. "It will last a good while. I trust I will still find you here afterwards?" Rippling voice washed over her and all she wanted to do was to get away from this deceiving mermaid.

"Of course," she affirmed, stopping herself from ripping Anzu's skin of her porcelain face. Why did she have to ask? She already knew the answer.

"Thank you," Anzu said softly, smiling that sad smile of hers which made her look that much more glowing.

There was no answer as Anzu started moving, the ends of the silks floating behind her. She drew nearer like a siren in the middle of a moonlit pond and she could feel her presence like an oncoming disease, making her swallow painfully. She couldn't help it, not this time. Her eyes looked up at the advancing figure. She could feel the brush of skin and water as Anzu swam silently past her, her eyes for the first time meeting her own in jarring accuracy.

She hated it when they looked gazes. The moment she looked into those eyes, a jolt of power ran down her gut, filling her to the brim with emotions. She saw pity in those blue orbs that made her want to scream her lungs out and attack the other, to rip out those eyes. She want to mar that beauty, she _needed_ to destroy everything Anzu stood for. She was the one who held her here. It was her fault for chaining her heart. She lost everything: her family, her friends, her money, her freedom, and her heart. She lost all of them because of her. She just had to strive to be better than her, to be more beautiful, more desired. It was too much for her in the end and she landed here, with nothing. She tired to do the impossible and now she was paying the price. The Council and the citizens never forgave her but Anzu did. For some reason she did. But now she wished she had been condemned after all.

She knew what Anzu saw in her eyes. She saw the sorrow, the yearning, the self-loathing, the hate for life and her. She saw the whole thing and, this time, she let her. Go away, let me live. Die and stay with me. Look and detest me. Unlock the chains and watch me. Touch my hand and scream. She saw her eyes soften. Rip them out. This was not the time.

"I will see you tonight," Anzu said, her voce so soft it hurt her ears. The answer she always gave her, no matter the difference in words she used, was the same. 'No, I can't do that. I'm sorry.'

She closed her eyes and the spell was broken. She refused to open them even as she heard Anzu sigh and swim to the door. The door was pushed open then closed and she knew Anzu Masaki had gone. A grave chill fell inside the room and she shivered, holding her arms at her side, rejecting the urge to wrap her arms around her suddenly shivering frame. She was still inside her prison. She could not let her mask fall even if there was no one here but her.

Her full lips were pressed into a firm line, unwilling to make a sound. A sudden current blew into the room from the balcony, throwing the drapes into the air. Once again she didn't move even when her teeth began chattering. Anzu was expecting her here and she had to stay here, in this very spot.

She didn't know how long she floated there, closing her eyes and looking the space above the mirror alternately. That damn mirror never left its place. It would have been so satisfying to see it crash to the floor and break into millions of tiny reflecting shards of glass. Then she wouldn't have to see the whole picture, her whole reflection. She didn't want to see it. It reminded her too much of her mistakes.

She usually followed Anzu wherever she went inside the manor and out. She was like a shadow that almost never spoke to anyone other than Anzu. She was present everywhere she was expect in private affairs like family dinners. But she was there when Anzu's parents started criticizing Anzu for her behavior, for the seamless way she wore her outside mask of greed. Anzu, for some reason that would one day kill her, trusted her. She knew many things about the Council and their decisions. The Masakis lived in the same manor after all. She knew too much. She would always know too much. Another curse.

She hated Anzu yet couldn't live without her. If Anzu never existed then she wouldn't have had the feeling to be superior and this would have never started. She had been here for years, long, revolting, peaceful years. She didn't deserve to live yet that was not her choice. It would never again be her choice. She knew Anzu inside and out better than anyone else in the oceans and she wanted to kill herself for allowing herself to sink so low, lower than ever.

That's why when the door opened again she knew it wasn't Anzu. Anzu would never open the door like that: without knocking and announcing herself. She knew even without opening her eyes. The chill in the room increased to point of freezing at this trespasser's intrusion in her hellhole and horrid waiting. A feeling of wrongness draped over the heart that was not hers and she felt the need to slaughter whoever dared to come into a place where only the damned entered.

A sly chuckle made her want to draw blood and she instantly recognized the somehow bigger aura of the trespasser as it drew closer. She relaxed and tensed at the same time, her own organs strangling her. He was not allowed in here yet that never stopped him before. What does he want?

"Still doing the old job, huh?" his voice never changed and she slowly opened her eyes, unwilling to be too vulnerable against this menace. "Ah, there we are. I don't know why you hide such pretty eyes."

"What do you want?" she said shortly and rudely, finally giving into the urge and crossing her arms across her chest. She had to stay strong. She _was_ strong. No one save for Anzu had ever beaten her.

"Still as bipolar as ever," he said amused, flicking his black hair from his eyes. "But that can't be helped I suppose. I'm calling in a favor." He grinned widely and she steadier herself long enough to glare strongly at him with venom.

"A favor? I'm surprised," she hissed softly, throwing her head back to move her hair from her face. "You would lower yourself to my level to ask for a favor. Sorry honey, but forgive me if I don't believe you." She has never completely trusted anyone for years and she would not ignore her instincts for this merman.

"You still haven't changed a bit, eh?" he laughed, displaying his canines. His laughter decreased as he gazed passively at her. She saw a glint of anger and promised pain in his eyes but nothing he could do scared her. "Well, that's what I'm partly counting on. You can't refuse me. You asked my help when you needed it, and now you owe me. It wasn't my fault in backfired on you."

There was something different about him, something that wasn't usually in his confident stance. She could feel his aura, it was huge and slimy, a poisonous green shade, reeking of power that she knew didn't come from anything on this planet. His muscles were sharper than before and his eyes were the slightest bit slanted and his eyes, which had been a powerful bottle green, were now so many different shades of scum-filthy green. Her skin crawled just looking sideways at him. She narrowed her eyes. This was not the merman she had the displeasure of knowing. Something happened. And that something was probably what he wanted her help with. Her instincts shouted at her to escape before it was too late but she knew she would not be able to break away. Anzu was expecting her to be here when she came back.

"_Don't ever mention that again," _she growled, pure anger and poison lacing her every word. Her hands fisted until she felt her nails draw blood.

His disgusting eyes glanced at her wound dispassionately and he smiled so disturbingly she snarled back at him. "Now, really, stop that." His voice grew sly and dark. "You owe me a blood debt for what I did for you. I gave you what you wanted but it just so happened that Masaki beat you at your own game." His voice changed into a serious tone that warned her. "You owe me big time and it's time I came to reclaim my side of the favor."

She didn't say anything, thrust unexpectedly and cruelly into the past. She had first seen Anzu when she was eight while the Masaki family was traveling the short distance to the castle. The small merchild had been so beautiful with a smile that warmed every heart around her. She felt so much envy and jealous that everything else dwindled away, leaving only the decaying picture of that perfect girl. She was the better-looking one, she was more beautiful, and she was the one who deserved to have all the attention on her. For seven years it burned away at her soul, using magic and forbidden arts to pile up on beauty, to make her gorgeous. But it wasn't enough, that girl was still more cherished than her. She was going insane with resentment and bitterness for the girl she had never spoken to.

And that's when she made the biggest mistake of her life. She met him. He knew about her after just one look, all her boiling feelings and hatred. He offered to lend her his assistance in return for a favor he would later collect. She immediately took it without second thought, never his seeing how cruel his eyes looked. A blood pact could not be broken by anything short of unwilling death or murder. He gave her the power to mar, to burn the skin off a merperson's body in the form of a small crystal. She had never felt as powerful as she had felt that very instant.

Vomit started crawling up her throat but she pushed it down forcefully. It didn't work. She should have known that Anzu would have protective spells around her whenever she went outside. In fact she knew that he had known the second he offered to help. He was swine, worse than filth. He was a monster hidden in a pleasant body. She hated him even more than Anzu. She wanted to feel her hands as they sank into his stomach and ripped him apart from the inside out, his mouth choking on his own blood. The crystal's affects didn't work. It bounced off the shields. She had never felt as afraid in her young life as then when the spell was thrown back at her without mercy, a scream in her throat. She managed to turn around but it hit her in between the shoulder blades.

She knew true pain that night. She lost everything she ever had. Her family disowned her and turned their backs on their daughter and sister in need, crying pitifully. The Council had been ready to condemn her to the granite caves, a sure death because, in their hard eyes, it had been an attempted assassination on a high ranking member of Taikai. She cried so much, every single ounce of water had been squeezed from her heart but no one looked on her with pity, no one had sympathy for the poor selfish girl who was to die during the next months. No one looked at her and saw anything other than a future murderer and a monster.

No one…except the cause of her fall, Anzu Masaki.

"What do you want?" she whispered, what was left of her heart aching for peace, for rest. She was left, abandoned by all except the one she hated the most. Her dead orbs gazed blankly at him, who smirked in triumph.

"A month of your time," he declared offhand, aware the sudden stiffening of her spine and the incredulous look she shot him. "A month of doing what I ask and you'll be free of the blood oath. A small price to pay for your misguided greed, I think, isn't it?" The vampire smile that bloomed on his pale almost sent her reeling back with paranoia and abhorrence.

She was shaking inside but she refused, absolutely rejected the mere idea of showing any kind of weakness in front of this backstabber. He would milk it for all its worth and continue killing her, bit by bit. She had no choice just like she didn't have a choice in anything.

"I can't do that," she continued denying it. Her eyes flashed. "You know that the decision is not up to me." Hateful bitterness clouded her voice and she resisted the urge to turn her back on him.

"You don't need to worry about that," he grinned, waving his hand as if to dismiss the notion. "I have plenty of ways that I can make the Masakis give up possession of you for a couple of weeks. So what do you say?" The drawl at the end of the sentence told her that he knew exactly what the answer was going to be.

And, unfortunately, so did she.

"What do you need me to do?"

This was not the time.

* * *

Tick tock, tick tock.

His left eye twitched.

Tick tock, tick tock.

His hands fisted, his palms damp with nervous sweat.

Tick tock, tick tock.

The thick air was making it rather impossible to breathe.

Tick tock, tick tock.

He couldn't swallow.

Tick tick.

He was starting to- wait, tick?

Tick tock.

Either there was something wrong with the clock or his hearing was playing tricks on him.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Okay, now that sound was getting very annoying. If it kept this up then he might have to do something drastic like, oh he didn't know, throwing the clock against the wall. Yes, that would suite his needs very well.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, ticktock, ticktock, -

Someone stop the carefully timed madness! He could help it anymore! His nerves overrode whatever common sense his mind had been shouting at him and his hands shot out without him even realizing it to knock into the slippery black clock, pushing it off the little table until it was suspended in midair by the cable that was still plugged to the wall. It swung slightly.

Jou couldn't help but flush as seven pairs of eyes fixed on him, making him mentally curse himself, some gazes nicer than others. He coughed embarrassedly and gnawed at his lower lip.

Now you may be wondering how this little get-together came to be. He would have preferred to avoid this little shindig altogether but even he knew it was necessary. He couldn't help but feel jumpy and restless as the unfamiliar eyes watched him and his friends, protectiveness itching at him.

Now, to understand how positively agitated and fidgety he was the beginning understand you must. Apparently all four of them had momentarily forgotten their guests in a fit of overdramatic, friendship-consuming, stairs-hating wrestling match including spectators and at the end they had wallowed in their glowy glow of comradeship before something impolitely reminded that the four of them weren't exactly alone in the humongous beach house. And that 'something' just happened to be a gigantic, shattering world-destroying explosion.

Okay, not maybe it wasn't that gigantic and the world hadn't been destroyed seeing as they were all still alive and in one piece and the only thing that broke was Malik's sanity (but that was cracked was before that) but, come on, a hole in the wall and a slight ground tremor has to count as some kind of explosion if not one on the Richter scale. Shocked the hell out of all of them, let him tell you. It was kind of like waking up next to a grizzly bear. With rabies. Painted orange. And with squealing hamsters tapped to its back. So before their brains were shaken out of their skulls the tremor stopped (made Malik and Jou fall (again) and almost roll out the door never mind that the door was locked and bolted).

So they had all run upstairs without tripping over themselves to ogle at the scene in the hallway. It seemed that the merman with the uncanny resemblance to Malik had somehow crawled out of his designated room and into the hallway with his blanket still saving everyone's virgin eyes from burning away and curling like snails when someone showers them with salt.

He'd smiled at them, quite disturbingly happy, and had started shouting "Hey, guys, we're in shrimp-land!" over and over again like some kind of diabolical broken tape from the darkest pits of the craziest asylum from Hell. Well, maybe that description was a stretch but it was really annoying.

And then everything went down the metaphorical drain. Apparently Bakura had woken up and had done exactly what he had before. He went berserk and the poor victim turned out to be the wall (researching sources are confirming whether or not the spontaneous combustion of wall plaster that was produced had resulted from a detonation of charged light made by marine alteration. Thus far the sources have had limited success due to the fact they are four underage, teenaged children, only one having acquired and kept the license registration card needed to manipulated a land vehicle. Therefore they, currently, have no traces leading to the answer. But we have obtained a quote by one of the investigating subjects on his expression of his belief by claiming quote "He did the freaky light thing again!" unquote. We have not yet found solid proof of this phenomenon. We will continue to keep searching and inform the public later on the progress of this case. Thank you and goodnight.) What surprised (read: horrified) them was that the wall Bakura had conveniently blasted a hole in was the wall that separated his room from Yami's so, of course, it shocked the other merman, who probably thought he was being attacked, into screaming to high heaven like a little Nancy boy. Seriously, not even Ryou could have screamed that high even though it had come pretty damn close.

So they had had a pretty odd situation on their hands. One merman was on the hallway floor like some breed of spiked, shouting, mutant caterpillar, one merman was having a panic attack, one merman was heaving and shedding sparks like some kind of flamboyant fairy, and the other one still hasn't said a word or shown any sign of coming out of the room (the reason is debatable seeing as maybe he could walk yet). Yes, it wasn't an everyday scenario but Jou had a sneaking suspicion that it was not going to be unusual for very long if things continued going the way they were. Those suspicions are damn sneaky.

But, in the end, they unfortunately had to do something other than gawk and gape. They would have liked to just stand there looked on stupidly then melt into the carpet but that's not how life rolls. And Jou knew very well that life liked to roll downhill. Damn gravity. So they had to move before their feet grew roots and started running around like headless chickens on fire. Well, actually that was just Ryou and Yuugi but, hey, who's counting? It's not like whoever rules over life has a pocket-sized calculator the he/she/it can whip out and curse them all with endless first-grade math question that would eventfully and slowly chew at their brains and make them foam at the mouth before screaming like burning chimpanzees and promptly committing a ritual suicide. Yeah, math can be that scary.

But back to the story. So Yuugi and Ryou were panicking and Malik and Jou were standing there stupidly, nothing new here, but that was before there were two yelps and two thumps, almost in perfect synchronization. Oh, yeah, vocabulary word right there. Which naturally made the two little ones run to see what was up or down in this particular case. When Jou heard two smacks almost right away he was throw into action. Literally. Malik almost tossed him over his shoulder to investigate. What kind of friend throws a guy into a possibly dangerous situation? Really… At least Malik forgot that he was stuck with mutant worm-boy there. Hee hee.

But Jou was heroic and all that crap so he gallantly galloped to the crime scene never mind he didn't know why he was galloping. And he found Ryou sitting on the floor next to Bakura's room door, rubbing his forehead gingerly. Jou deduced with his amazing detective skills that Ryou must have run into the closed door. No? Ah, he ran into the wall next to the door. That makes even less sense. But Yuugi was nowhere to be seen. So Jou again deduced with his amazing detective skills that Yuugi must have made it inside the room. For some odd reason it worried him more. So he took a stab and went to have a look-see.

Now there are two things that a young teenager never _ever_ wants to see in his lifetime and his afterlife as well. Many a kid has been mentally scarred for life after witnessing one of these acts and if the poor schmuck is unfortunate enough to see both of them (even worse at one go) he might have to be shipped to the nearest metal facility ASAP. And these two life changing experiences are One: his parents getting it on the bedroom with the lights on and the door conveniently open if you know what I mean and Two: his friends getting it on with the lights on and the door conveniently open if you catch _that_ drift. Yes, these two things are not welcome to a teenager's eyes more so if they happen to be virgin. Which they were.

The first thing that his mind registered was that Yuugi had fallen. The second thing was that Yuugi had fallen on something. The third thing was that Yuugi had fallen on someone. The fourth and final thing was that Yuugi had fallen on naked mermen flesh. Which, if you looked at it from a 45 degree angle upside-down, looked suspiciously (damn the sneaky) like something heated was going down tonight. Which would have been amusing to see the reaction. Now everyone knows that Jou didn't follow many rules but everyone also knew that the only ones he did follow were, like every decent teenager would, the Universal Rules of Teenagery and Underageness (including the Acts of Rule-breaking and the Decrees of Unwise Dating added in 2000), and this scene was a trespassing of the Law of Friends and Virgin Eyes and thus he thought it was only logical to scream like someone drop their chips in his nuts and jump out of the room faster than Speedy Gonzales (you know, the little Mexican mouse that goes really fast…Yeah, okay).

So, yes, his eyes did end up burning away and curling like snails when someone showers them with salt. But it was all okay, his eyes were pretty resistant (except water-proof. Sea salt does not like his eyes).

But what does Speedy Gonzales, snails, and chips with nuts have to do with the little jamboree of nice/not-so-nice looks of curiosity/meanness you may ask? Well good luck getting that answered! Jou was just as clueless as a Clue game board with only one card in the little evidence envelope. Do you know how hard it is to play Clue like that? No one ever got the right answer, kind of like what Jou was feeling right now. Then, as things happen to go like in his weird twisted life that he happily (mostly) called his, things got slightly weirder.

…Pfff. Scratch that. What happened next roughly sent him into a thirty year coma with an IV and everything. And he hated needles.

A rough but lyrical accent glissaded into the room like morning mist, the voice twisting and turning into so many words and vowels that it spun in no obvious pattern. A sudden feeling like a splash of cool air struck his lungs lightly like he just came from a shower. The voice held a tone of suppressed anger that he rarely ever had heard, the closest had come from his father when he was eight and forgot to close the door so that their TV got stolen and even that barely even scratched the tip of the iceberg that was this cold voice. Jou had gasped and whirled around.

The door to the room that was in front of Yami's and right next to the wall was open when Jou could have sworn that it had been closed mere seconds ago. A slightly webbed hand grasped the frame of the door tightly, nails digging shallowly into the wood so that tiny brown chips fell to the floor. A tall tanned body, taller than him by half a foot, was heavily leaning on the frame as well but the back was straight. A clumsily wrapped pillowcase was wrapped around lean hips, exposing long miles of muscled tanned legs with webbed toes and soft blue scales that shined dotting the ankles, trembling slightly as if they wanted to bend under him and only were held up by willpower. Strong, wide shoulders were squared sturdily even though the right shoulder was heavily leaning against the wall.

But let's go on to what almost made his heart stop beating (not that he would ever admit it).

The face was refined like a form of striking royalty with shapely cheekbones and a stern mouth that looked severe. His face was as tan as the rest of him, giving the skin a smooth quality that reminded him of an amber gemstone. A messily mussed mane of thick chocolate brown hair faintly covered a pair of pointed ears and floated almost menacingly over his forehead like the fur of a cornered lion. They reflected the weak artificial light with ease and just about transformed into silk. The strands dipped and almost hid the eyes that were pointed in his direction with the deadly accuracy of a viper. But there was no way those two eyes could have been hidden anywhere.

They were slightly slanted in an exotic appearance and the tan skin only made them stand out stunningly. Jou had never seen such a painfully blue color on anyone before. Deep, deep blue eyes that looked like a piece of freezing ice. It was one true pure color of blue that was dark as night but as sharp as a piece of stained glass. The blue was a dark aquamarine that reflected like arctic water and the lines of sapphire mimicked the waves of a storm, deadly and precise. They were so cold and icy that they looked like they held winter eternally and would unleash it without care.

A flash of pain flew across the teen's face, briefly marring his features before a cold, stoic expression firmly appeared. His eyes hardened once they landed on him and he, has was proud to say, didn't step backwards but did his best to meet the gaze straight on though he had to look away after a few seconds. Not because the blueness unnerved him, no, certainly not. It was just because he heard Malik start screaming about perverted lunatics down the hall. That was it.

That and those frozen cerulean blues scared him.

"I suggest, human, that we go somewhere to talk about this," the merman said quietly but strongly, there was no need to speak any louder as the tone commanded attention all on its own. Shivers racked up his spine for no apparent reason other that the voice gave him chills. It was cold and hard like it had an edge of steel.

Yeah, well, fuck that.

Jou frowned, not liking the way the other was talking as if he was a simpleton which he wasn't! He open his mouth to retaliate with something when the merman's eyes flickered to the right rapidly and he felt a small hand touch his elbow gently. Jou jumped and looked down at the culprit.

"I think he's right," Yuugi murmured quietly, his face still decorated with a delicate sort of blush. Where did he come from? Malik's screams suddenly quieted down then a concert of thumps echoed down the hallway, giving Jou the suspicion that Malik ripped off a painting from the wall to use as a multicolored mallet. If he broke that then it wasn't his fault.

So that's the story, folks, of the events leading up to the assemble of humans and mermans-that-were-mermans-but-were-now-turned-into-humans-by-something-that-can't-be-explained. Yuugi just looked at blue-eyes, nodded, and gently herded Jou-who was protesting the whole time- down the hallway, collecting Ryou and Malik on the way. It turned out Malik had been using the painting of a winter forest scene to swat the crawling bug that was trying to hug his 'Malik-pretty.' Needless to say the painting wasn't as sturdy as Malik thought it would have been and it now hung on the wall with the hole the size of a head right in the middle. Hopefully Ryou's uncle won't realize it until they were long gone. Then maybe he wouldn't notice the hole in the wall in one of his guest rooms. Certainly he would have enough money to fix that. Let it never be said that Katsuya Jounouchi was a pessimist.

So now they were all sitting downstairs, fidgety and nervous like they were waiting trail for trying to steal an egg roll from the Panda Express. Hey, it could happen! They were at the mall food court one day when a guy started running around like crazy, holding an egg roll in his hand while being chased by a screaming chef with the Panda Express logo on his apron. In the end the mall security caught him and hauled him away. The poor dude, maybe he'll survive the jail for Chinese food stealers.

But whatever, that's not the point. The point is that somehow all four mermen stumbled down the stairs to the first floor. And as you probably noticed the word 'stumble' in the previous sentence was too tame for what the fish-boys were doing. It was more like they were tripping, staggering, slipping, falling, and lurching their way down the stairs. The Malik look-alike practically rolled down the steps in a mess of spikes, skin, and blanket. The others: blue-eyes, Yami and Bakura valiantly made their way clutching the handrail as if their lives depended on it, legs shaking and knees giving out like newborn babies. It would have been hilarious if they hadn't been glaring fiercely at them, pain occasionally showing on their faces. Jou felt Yuugi fidget next to him and he couldn't help but discreetly smile. Yuugi, he always wanted to help people even when they weren't exactly people.

Of course, now, the sea-guys, being who there were, barely had enough clothes on to be a centimeter away from being decked out in their birthday suits. Blue-eyes still had his pillowcase, and the rest were dragging sheets along with them. They had obviously gotten the message that they weren't allowed to go around with nothing but their scales on. But nevertheless it was making Jou kind of, um, what's the word? Um, hmm, let's go with antsy, shall we? Yeah, antsy Jou.

So there was no way his eyes strayed where they didn't belong. Nope, they stayed right where they were accepted, on the couch right in front of them. He, Ryou, and Yuugi were squished into the large black couch while Malik tested his luck and bravely took the loveseat to the right with his legs folded so that they touched his chest, eyes looking for crawling bugs on the floor. He was a brave little thing. Jou promised to remember him when he was gone.

So with acrobatics and ninja-like moves that Jou kind of envied the mermen had situated themselves on the couch in front of them awkwardly like they were afraid that the couch was going to bite them. But who knows? Maybe down under they have couched that do bite. He wouldn't know.

The look-alike Malik had spotted Malik isolated in his little chair and all alone and had happily crawled/hopped over to him. Malik shrieked briefly and huddled himself even closer, trying to meld with the fabric. Jou would have gone to help him if the scene hadn't been so damn funny and Jou didn't think that the insane merman would actually harm his 'Malik-pretty.' It was kind of disturbing but, if it was happening to Malik, then it was funny.

"No! No! Get off! Get off!" Malik yelped repeatedly, trying to kick the slinking merman away without actually touching him. He shot them a look which possibly meant why-the-hell-are-you-just-sitting-there-you're-suppose-to-be-my-friends. Ryou and Yuugi were probably guiltily squirming but not Jou, oh, no.

It's funny. You'll see teenagers, or kids for that matter, help each other with homework, help each other with their nonexistent love lives, and sneak out in the middle of the night to prank teachers' houses then point the police to their old school enemy. But never will you see a friend help another out of an embarrassing situation. It was just too funny to pass by.

Suddenly Bakura spat something in that fish language of his and the slinky merman scowled but complied, slinking back to his fellow bottom dwellers. Now there were many couches in the living room but there were just enough so that Yami and Bakura had one and Seto and the other could have their own sofas though the latter chose the one closest to Malik who was starting to look severely annoyed.

But once everyone was situated silence fell down on the room. This is where Jou decided that the clock next to him was evil and needed to be knocked down. But now back to the thing at hand.

Cricket.

Cricket.

Crrrrriiiiiiickkkkeeeet.

Stomp.

Silence.

What was it with merman and uncomfortable, awkward silences? Yuugi didn't like this scenario very much. It wasn't only because his stomach was suddenly a bird motel and he was starting to tremble with nervousness but because he knew that these teens shouldn't be up and about yet. They were still recovering and Yuugi was fearful that one of them would suddenly bend over and die, foaming at the mouth. He didn't care if they were probably three times bigger than him, he was the medical authority around these parts and nobody could get up from their beds without a signed release form signed and initialed by the Sheriff of Health and Wellbeing A.K.A. Yuugi Mutou. He had prescription sleeping pills and he wasn't afraid to use them!

But, maybe, he should wait until they all got a common understanding in what was going on. He knew that if things weren't straightened out early then it would get much worse later on and he would be the one cleaning up the mess.

He felt like shit. Every single part of him ached like he had personally wrestled a shark and barely got away. His bones didn't feel like bones, they felt piece of rock, grinding against each other in a feat of rage and stifling every move he made. His eyes throbbed fiercely and he could barely see anything other than dull blurs. All the colors melted together into a gray blob that resembled some of the experiments that Yami's assistant Mana deiced to cook. Thank Poseidon that she had forced Yami to eat it instead of him. The only way he managed not to crash into anything was thanks to his sense of smell and hearing that remained unchanged, guiding him like he was blind. He might as well be! He felt like a damn invalid.

He was going to murder Yami. He was going to chop him into little pieces, stitch him back together, and smash his head repeatedly against something hard and stab him with his own hair. Then repeat. Until nobody would be able to recognize the pile of mush he would be. Bakura felt a grow crawl from the back of his throat as he glared wrathfully at who he hoped was Yami. It smelled like him anyway. Not that he went around smelling random people. That was a little too stalker-ish for his tastes.

His legs hurt like hell's hell. Now that was something he never ever thought he would ever have to deal with. It isn't a very usual trait for a merman to have human legs. But even with the lame eyesight and the on-the-verge-of-breaking legs weren't enough he also found another problem with himself when he woke up.

His magi core was on the fritz. Big time. Even now his core was turning on and off at random times and pulsating with magic even when he willed it calm down. He didn't understand. This never happened before. It was as if his own magic was fighting against his will and straining to get out. His chest hurt with the strain to contain his magical energy and his glare faltered slightly as his eyes lit up then dimmed back, leaving his eyes never worse than before. Damn it to all hells! Bakura wanted to scratch his own eyes out.

He could fell Yami next to him and the soft rustling in front of them made him think that the humans were nervous or impatient. Well suck it up! He could barely see the difference between either species right now! He feels that he's entitled to the privilege of remaining damn well silent! The fabric under him was smooth but faintly sticky, smelling like something slightly animal. It made his skin stick to it and rub in uncomfortable places. Now he knew why humans wore clothing. Damn humans and their sticky pieces of dead animals!

A sudden burst of magic ruptured from him and before he could do anything more than widen his eyes, he felt more than heard the explosion and the following shower of chimes. Several short screams and curses followed the explosion and as several blurs suddenly became one big one. His chest hurt.

"_Holy quivering sea sponges!" _Marik exclaimed, sounding a bit more excited than he should be.

"_Bakura, what the hell was that for?" _Yami's voice hissed from his left and a firm hand steadfastly gripped his bicep. He could almost see the irritated and annoyed glare he knew Yami had. Bakura jumped, making the fabric scratch him irritably, and snarled, trying to shove Yami's hand off his person but the stubborn bastard refused to go.

"_How the hell should I know?" _Bakura spat back, shoving Yami's hand off with his own. The sudden movement shot a jolt of pain to his eyes, making him close them in an effort to rid the pain. Usually he wouldn't dare to let anybody see his pain but, what the hell, he couldn't even see if they were in the room.

"_What do you mean how the hell should you know?" _Yami voice snapped at him then he could _hear_ the smirk in his voice. _"Are you really that stupid that you don't even know your own body anymore?" _Goddamn that playful tone. He only used that tone when he was winning at some game which, let's face it, was almost every game he glanced sideways at.

"_And whose fault is that?" _Bakura retailed sharply. He was NOT feeling good, not even remotely close. He felt his gills flap agitatedly in response.

"_Not mine,"_ was Yami oh-so-intelligent response which had Bakura's hackles immediately rising. Not his…_not_ his…not _his_…! What. The. Hell. He was the only one out of all of them that had the talent and magical ability to even try to do such a thing ridiculous as a (unofficially) forbidden transmutation spell which, he must declare in such a manner that will make your ears bleed, has killed several magicians over the past centuries.

"_What the hell do you mean not mine?" _Bakura growled, squinting at the star-shaped blob in front of him. _"You're the one with the all the oh-so-powerful magical ability that you keep on bragging on and on and on all day!"_

"_Yeah, well I don't know what the hell happened!" _Bakura was so pissed that he didn't register the words at first but, when he did, he was thrown into the throes of confusion. Yami was admitting not knowing about something that he did? Okay, either Yami's brain died or his brain died. It was kind of hard to figure out which one it was. He couldn't feel anything other than stiff muscles.

"_What do you mean you don't know what the hell happened?" _Bakura retorted, feeling his hands itch to wrap around Yami's neck in frustration. He _so_ didn't need this right now.

"_Exactly what I said," _Yami cried out in an irritated sort of voice, his hands itching into fists. Yeah, well, welcome to my world buddy. Come and have some saltberries while we cry oceans in frustration and goddamn anger! _"I don't know what the hell happened! You weren't supposed to have changed! I didn't include you in the transmutation so either somehow your magic merged with ours at the merging point or you did it by yourself. Take a pick!" _

"_I'll take a pick! And- wait, if you didn't then how the hell did I end up with legs! That's what I want to know," _Bakura said confounded, blinking fast. Partly because of his eyesight and partly because that what Yami said made no sense whatsoever. Now, Yami here says a lot of things that went right over his head without even skimming his batch of hair but this was –just- plain weird. And, trust him; Bakura was the definition of weird, okay.

"_That's what we wanted to ask you," _Seto's voice drawled out from his little seat-thing that look a heck of a lot more comfortable than what he was sitting on right now. Smug bastard, he probably did it on purpose.

"_How am I supposed to know?"_ Bakura demanded, crossing his arms stubbornly and unintentionally bunching up the sheet which had been wrapped snuggly around him. Stupid piece of fabric. _"I was unconscious for who knows how long for the who knows how manyth time! I didn't do anything! Unlike you." _Pointing finger aimed towards the Yami-blob with vengeance.

"_Yeah, well you-"_

"_Bickering like this won't help solve anything," _Seto cut in with his rude but still somehow polite way. _"Because one: you're scaring the humans and two: we know that you did it Bakura and it affected something." _Bakura swerved his head around to fixate on the Seto-blur and squinted at him too. If he kept this up then he just knew someone would end up naming him Squinty.

What would Seto be talking about? Curse him and his obscure references to things he thinks they should know. Oh…the humans. He forgot about them. Funny. His nose directed him to the grayish blackish blob in front of him. He could easily pick out a fragrance that he remembered vividly but he could not recall where exactly he picked it up. It reminded him of something that he used to hang around when he was little. It was a fresh kind of smell, like a mixture of herbs that brought him good memories. What the fuck?

But before he could get a good whiff of the fragrance it vanished to be replaced with the smell that he automatically knew was Ryou's. It was milky and sweet, tantalizing but thin enough not to overwhelm his delicate senses. Bakura sat there for a minute, drinking in the scent like water before he snapped himself out of the stupor, growling at himself angrily and turning to glare in the general direction of Seto.

"Um, Bakura? Are you okay? You don't look too good," he heard Ryou's melodious voice whisper timidly in his direction. Melodious? Where does he come up with this stuff?

"'M fine," Bakura murmured, resisting the itch to rub his eyes until they peeled off his face. He noticed his eyesight was getting worse now that he was trying to focus more on the faint outline of Ryou. All he could make out was two green spots and a blur of white. For some reason not being able to see Ryou clearly made him even more irritable. _"I hate you Yami. So much." _

"_Likewise,"_ Yami replied dryly, feeling a kink in his neck. He ignored it and studied Bakura for a moment. Seto was right there was something odd with Bakura, something slightly off with his aura. Bakura had always had a sort of rather dark aura, a molten shade of dark purple, black, and blue all three colors tumbling over one another. Another mark of what the ocean has gifted those of its Royal blood. But it wasn't just purple, black, and blue. There was the tiniest sliver of a different color, a different aura all together.

He mixed his aura with that of someone else's? It's happened recently Yami noted. Bakura's aura was still trying to expel the foreign aura but was being held back forcefully by Bakura's own magic. Typical of Bakura to be fighting himself.

"_Whose aura did you mix with Bakura?" _Yami inquired, sounding offhand but unable to let the smallest bit of curiosity leak through his voice. Bakura started and opened his mouth but Yami cut him off before he could go crazy on his ass. _"And don't lie to me Bakura,"_ he said warningly, meeting Bakura's wavering stare with calm. _"I can see your aura is trying to dispel another presence and it not one of our own." _A sudden idea flew in like a thunderstorm. _"It was the __Kyroi Heledi__ wasn't it?_ _Damnit Bakura." _He didn't even have the energy to be angry.

"_You. Are. An. Idiot." _The cold, stony voice was like an artic breeze, chilling even the humans who had do idea what they were talking about. _"We will talk about this later Bakura." _

Bakura felt another growl try and make its way out of his throat. But he was soon distracted by another burst of magic that his magi core was trying to expel. Goddamnit. His sharp canines dug into the insides of his cheeks and the pain helped to slightly reduce the flow of magic that was threatening to eject like last night's dinner. That bubble of magi was not going anywhere. He was not going to lose control anymore. Thanks to his pigheaded stubbornness his magic receded back like the little loser it was. Take that sucker!

It was official: he was going crazy.

"Excuse me?" Yuugi managed to say nervously but firmly, making everyone's head swerve in his direction like army tanks. He melted slightly under the intense exotic gazes but t Jou's comforting hand on his elbow gave him more courage. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important but it's getting kind of late and I still have to finish making dinner-" which he would have to double in amount now. He had been making tacos you know "-so I think we should properly introduce ourselves and accommodate everyone for the night. Tomorrow we can talk more. I'm sure you're all tired." He smiled brightly at everyone and clapped briskly.

Yuugi kept grinned as his gaze assessed his practically naked guests. They would have to get them clothes especially for the tallest person in the room, the merman with startling blue eyes. They had nothing in this house which would fit him. He frowned briefly at the problem. Yami would probably fit into Malik's clothes give or take a few inches. Some of Jou's baggier clothes (that teen loved his baggy clothes) would probably fit Bakura and the Malik look-a-like. He really had to get some names here.

"I'll start," Yuugi volunteered somewhat more hesitant than before, seeing as no one else moved an inch expect Malik who was still over there in his little loveseat-island way over there, trying to mentally blow his aquatic copy that staring strongly at him out of the house. Yuugi cleared his throat noisily and winced. He had to stop doing that. "Um, my name's Yuugi Motou. It's nice to meet you?"

There was silence and before any of his friends could come to his embarrassing rescue Yami, the red-eyed merman spoke.

"I might as well go next," Yami said, sounding bored, his eyes fixed on Yuugi from under lightning bangs. "Name's Atemu but I go by Yami, apprentice to the Court Magician and Librarian Mahado and only son of Lady Teinei of Unabara." He fell silent then glared at the taller blue-eyed teen who sighed as if this was all too troublesome to be dealt with.

"Seto Kaiba, only son of Gouzaburou Kaiba, the High Advisor of the Court of Taikai," he said shortly and to the point but sounding coldly polite. His eyes flashed at Jou then settled on Yuugi, fixing him with a mild glare. Yuugi couldn't help but shiver slightly. He was just glad that he was here alone.

"Oh-Oh! Me next!" the sandy spiked merman exclaimed excitedly, waving his arms around in the air. "I'm Marik ya? Son of Omari of Talia and lover of jellyfish and Malik-pretty. Ya?" He grinned widely while Malik spluttered indignantly and Jou couldn't help but snicker. He liked this guy.

Bakura snorted. "Yeah well whatever. Y'all know who I am." He waved his hand carelessly, signaling that he finished his ridiculously short introduction. Then a funny thing happened. His eyes crossed momentarily like he was constipated then uncrossed hazily.

More silence before Yami looked over at Yuugi expectantly, raising a black brow. Yuugi couldn't help but flush under his gaze and coughed, nudging a stunted Ryou in the side. The small albino jumped in shock.

"Oh-um, uh, I'm Ryou Bakura," he whispered softly, hiding his eyes under his bangs. Why were they all staring at him so strangely?

"It's not like any 'of ya care but 'm name's Jou and don' forget it," Jou responded, crossing his arms and sulking like a toddler which made tall blue-eyes Seto glance at him, unimpressed with his maturity level. A flash of anger overcame him for a moment when the inferior feeling that the gaze made him feel. He had the greatest feeling that he and Seto would **not **be friends any time soon.

Malik mumbled something that was probably not PG rated and sighed nosily. "I'm Malik Ishtar not Malik-pretty or human-cute or squishy-cuddlemuffins or whatever names the creep was calling me!" With a death glare at said offending creep he furrowed himself back into his faithful loveseat.

Marik hummed thoughtfully and tapped his chin like he was thinking deeply. "Okay, I won't call you Malik-pretty anymore." He smiled widely at Malik's suspicious gaze while Yami rolled his eyes and Bakura muttered something under his gaze. "I'll call you Cute-turtle from now on!" He was very pleased with himself for thinking of such a great name for his precious.

Malik wanted to die. "That's even worse than before!" he shouted, pissed. "Can you not call me weird names?" He seethed like the greatest seether live.

"Nope."

"Arggg!" Malik seethed even more, fisting his hair like he wanted to rip it out by the roots. He narrowed his eyes. Watch yourself tonight fish-boy, Malik thought murderously, watch yourself.

"Okay, okay," Yuugi interfered peacefully, giving Malik a warning glance which made him deflate slightly. "I think it's time for everyone to get a break. I trust that you'll be able to make it upstairs." He directed the last part to their unexpected guests and gave them what he hoped to be a reassuring smile.

"We'll manage. Thank you Yuugi," Yami responded giving Yuugi a smile which somehow made Yuugi weak at the knees.

He needed to make more tacos.

* * *

I don't like this chapter. It was made while I was in this writer's block and I just squeezed it out. I don't like it. But I promise next chapter will be much better. I'll have some more character and plot development finally there for you.

Even though it was crappy please review.

Ja ne.


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